Microalbuminuria in Essential Hypertension

Introduction The detection of small amounts of urinary albumin excretion (UAE), a condition known as microalbuminuria, by using sensitive immunological methods was initially used in the evaluation and management of renal damage in diabetes. In the last few years, however, it has received increased attention as a prognostic marker for cardiovascular and/or renal risk in non-diabetic subjects [1–11]. Consequently, microalbuminuria assessment is now recommended in a risk stratification strategy for hypertension management [12], since its presence indicates early organ damage and, rarely, a clustering of cardiovascular risk factors. As the ESH/ESC guidelines indicate, microalbuminuria is a reliable prognostic marker, which is widely available and at low cost [12]. Moreover, some preliminary data indicates that microalbuminuria is potentially an intermediate endpoint during antihypertensive treatment [11, 13].