Progress in Blood Pressure Control in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease

Hypertension occurs commonly in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) and is an important factor in the progression of the disease and cardiovascular mortality. The aim of this prospective 15-year study is to report the rate of blood pressure control and the potential effect of a 10-point education program developed by our center for ADPKD patients and their physicians. The patients' blood pressure treatment was managed by their primary care physicians. Three 5-year periods were analyzed in which similar rates of hypertension in patients with ADPKD were present (63% to 68%). In the first period (1985 to 1989), the rate of blood pressure control (<140/90 mm Hg) was 38% for 216 hypertensive patients with ADPKD. From 1990 to 1994, the percentage of blood pressure control increased to 55% in 194 hypertensive patients with ADPKD (P < 0.001 versus 1985 to 1989); and the level of blood pressure control increased to 64% in 181 hypertensive patients with ADPKD during 1995 to 1999 (P < 0.001 versus 1985 to 1989). Although this percentage of blood pressure control in patients with ADPKD remains suboptimal, it compares very favorably with the 27% estimated blood pressure control in patients with essential hypertension from 1991 to 1994 in the United States.