Hypertensive emergencies in diabetic patients from predominantly African American urban communities

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for hypertensive emergencies in diabetic patients presenting with severely elevated blood pressure.

Methods: Using electronic medical records, this study identified diabetic patients with hypertensive crisis who presented to the emergency department of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, NJ from June 2013 to May 2016. Diabetic patients with hypertensive emergencies were compared with non-diabetic patients based on important demographic and clinical characteristics.

Results: Patients with diabetes accounted for 52.27% of all hypertensive emergencies during the study period. There were 264 diabetic patients with hypertensive emergencies and 519 diabetic patients with hypertensive urgencies. The majority of patients were African Americans (88.6%). The odds of hypertensive emergencies were strikingly higher in diabetic patients with hyperlipidemia (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.23–2.24), coronary artery disease (OR 2.95, 95% CI 2.15–4.05), congestive heart failure (OR 6.28, 95% CI 4.49–8.80), renal insufficiency (OR 2.84, 95% CI 2.10–3.86) and low hemoglobin (OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.84–0.97). Acute or worsening heart failure was the most frequent acute target organ injury (49.6%) followed by non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (41.7%). Diabetic and non-diabetic patients had similar rates of target organ injuries.

Conclusion: The development of hypertensive emergencies in patients with diabetes was not because of diabetes per se but because of coexisting highly elevated blood pressure. Tight blood pressure control may decrease the risk of hypertensive emergencies in this patient population.