Data from 12 years of follow-up in the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension provides strong evidence that renal function can improve in some patients with hypertensive CKD.

Of 949 persons with at least three follow-up estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) measurements, 94 (10%) did not develop progressive kidney dysfunction, and 31 (3.3%) demonstrated clearly positive eGFR slopes.

The mean slope among these patients was +1.06 (0.12) mL/min per 1.73 m² per year, compared with -2.45 (0.07) mL/min per 1.73 m² per year among the remaining patients.

Bo Hu, PhD, and fellow researchers found that patients with low levels of proteinuria at baseline and low blood pressure (mean arterial pressure of 92 mm Hg or less) were most likely to exhibit improved eGFR, according to an online report in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

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