Microalbuminuria is independently associated with ischaemic electrocardiographic abnormalities in a large non-diabetic population. The PREVEND (Prevention of REnal and Vascular ENdstage Disease) study

AIM: To assess the value of microalbuminuria as an indicator of increased cardiovascular risk in a non-diabetic population. METHODS AND RESULTS: 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). CONCLUSIONS: 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.