Arterial Pressure, Left Ventricular Mass, and Aldosterone in Essential Hypertension

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Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of aldosterone to blood pressure and left ventricular size in black American (n=109) and white French Canadian (n=73) patients with essential hypertension. Measurements were obtained with patients off antihypertensive medications and included 24-hour blood pressure monitoring, plasma renin activity and aldosterone, and an echocardiogram. Compared with the French Canadians, the black Americans had higher body mass indexes, higher systolic blood pressures, attenuated nighttime reduction of blood pressure, and lower serum potassium concentrations ( P P P P P r =0.30; P r =0.39; P r =−0.29; P r =−0.37; P r =0.36; P r =0.33; P r =0.26; P r =0.53, P r =0.44, P <0.01) blood pressures but not with cardiac mass. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that aldosterone contributes to elevated arterial pressure in obese black American and obese white French Canadian patients with essential hypertension and to the attenuated nocturnal decline of blood pressure and left ventricular hypertrophy in obese, hypertensive black Americans.