Target organ damage in hypertensive patients in the doctor's office 40 of the "Manuel Fajardo" Polyclinic

Abstract

Introduction: High blood pressure is a determining factor of the damage that occurs in organs and systems, known as target organ damage. Its high frequency increases the probability of developing cardiac, cerebral, renal, retinal and peripheral vascular disease, which constitute important causes of morbidity and mortality in most countries. Objective: TTo identify the proportion of target organ damage in the 150 hypertensive patients over 18 years of age in our office. Methods: AAn observational cross-sectional investigation was carried out in 150 hypertensive patients over 18 years of age years of office 40 of the "Manuel Fajardo" Polyclinic between July and December 2021; Through questioning, fundoscopy, examination of peripheral pulses, and performance of creatinine, electrocardiogram, and echocardiogram on each hypertensive patient, existing target organ damage was determined. Results: Retinopathy was present in 54.6% of the cases, followed by cardiac damage (46.6%), both predominating in the group with more than 5 years of evolution of the disease (p<0.05). the less frequent manifestations were chronic renal failure (14.6%), cerebrovascular disease (5.3%), and peripheral arterial vascular failure (4.0%). Conclusion: The proportion of hypertensive patients with target organ damage is important, apparently as a consequence of inadequate control and a longer evolution time of the hypertensive disease, recommending increasing the investigation of the hidden morbidity of the disease and its complications to avoid, mitigate or delay the fearsome complications of arterial hypertension.