Epidemiology and outcomes of hypertensive crisis in patients with chronic kidney disease: a nationwide analysis

Background: The epidemiology and outcomes of hypertensive crisis (HTN-C) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have not been well studied. The objective of our study is to describe the incidence, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of emergency department (ED) visits for HTN-C in patients with CKD and ESRD. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of Nationwide Emergency Department Sample databases for years 2016-2018 by identifying adult patients presenting to ED with hypertension related conditions as primary diagnosis using appropriate diagnosis codes. Results: There were 348 million adult ED visits during the study period. Of these, 680 333 (0.2%) ED visits were for HTN-C. Out of these, majority were in patients without renal dysfunction (82%), with 11.4 and 6.6% were in patients with CKD and ESRD, respectively. The CKD and ESRD groups had significantly higher percentages of hypertensive emergency (HTN-E) presentation than in the No-CKD group (38.9, 34.2 and 22.4%, respectively; P < 0.001). ED visits for HTN-C frequently resulted in hospital admission and these were significantly higher in patients with CKD and ESRD than in No-CKD (78.3 vs. 72.6 vs. 44.7%; P < 0.0001). In-hospital mortality was overall low but was higher in CKD and ESRD than in No-CKD group (0.3 vs. 0.2 vs. 0.1%; P < 0.0001), as was cost of care (USD 28 534, USD 29 465 and USD 26 394, respectively; P < 0.001). Conclusion: HTN-C constitutes a significant burden on patients with CKD and ESRD compared with those without CKD with a higher proportion of ED visits, incidence of HTN-E, hospitalization rate, in-hospital mortality and cost of care.