Diercks G F, van Boven A J, Hillege H L, Janssen W M, Kors J A, de Jong P E, Grobbee D E, Crijns H J, van Gilst W H
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Eur Heart J. 2000 Dec;21(23):1922-7. doi: 10.1053/euhj.2000.2248.
To assess the value of microalbuminuria as an indicator of increased cardiovascular risk in a non-diabetic population.
7579 non-diabetic subjects were studied with ages ranging from 28 to 75 years selected from a population based cohort. Using computerized Minnesota coding, ischaemic electrocardiographic abnormalities were divided into three categories: infarct patterns, major ischaemia, and minor ischaemia. Urinary albumin excretion was measured as the mean of two 24-h urine collections. Cardiovascular risk indicators were defined as an age above 60 years, male sex, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, smoking, obesity and a positive cardiovascular family history. Microalbuminuria was associated with age, sex, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, serum glucose, body mass index and all three categories of electrocardiographic abnormalities. In a multivariate model, adjusted for established cardiovascular risk indicators, microalbuminuria was independently associated with infarct patterns (OR [95% CI] 1.61 [1.12-2.32]), major ischaemia (OR 1.43 [1.08-1.91]) and minor ischaemia (OR 1.32 [1.03-1.68]).
The independent association between microalbuminuria and ischaemic electrocardiographic abnormalities suggests that microalbuminuria has additional value to conventional risk indicators in predicting cardiovascular disease in non-diabetics. Assessment of microalbuminuria could be an instrument to identify those at an increased risk for coronary vascular disease in an early stage.
