Renal Artery Calcium Is Independently Associated With Hypertension

Renal Artery Calcium Is Independently Associated With Hypertension Matthew A. Allison, Elizabeth O. Lillie, Dominic DiTomasso, C. Michael Wright, Michael H. Criqui It has been proposed that renal microvascular disease is the central and unifying pathophysiologic mechanism of hypertension. The extent of calcified atheromatous plaque found on computed tomography is a valid and reproducible measure of the total atherosclerotic plaque burden in a vascular bed. In this study of 1,435 men and women, the presence of calcified atherosclerosis in the renal arteries was significantly associated with the diagnosis of hypertension, independent of traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors and the extent of calcified atherosclerosis in the nonrenal vasculature.