What Hypertensive Patient Needs a Workup for End-Organ Damage?
Ah, the age old question...which hypertensive patients need an ED workup for end-organ damage? The "workup" for patients includes renal function, urinalysis, CXR, ECG, etc.
Some pearls regarding working patients up:
Asymptomatic patients in general do not need a workup. There is pretty good literature that shows you just won't find much (expecially anything that will change your treatment plan) if you go hunting in this group of patients.
If you set asymptomatic patients aside, you won't find much good data on how much of a workup other patients need. Does a 45 yo patient with a BP of 160/110 and a mild HA need a serum creatinine? What if they have had some mild, atypical CP? The answer is...no one knows. Much of what we we do depends on what we were taught and our current mood.
Asymptomatic patients (truly asymptomatic) don't need chest xrays and ECGs as a rule of thumb...what you find won't help you make a decision. If you find LVH on the ECG, so what?
Obtaining a serum creatinine makes sense, especially of you are going to start a BP agent.
There is a pretty good study by Karas, et al. that showed that a urinalysis without protein or blood predicts a normal creatinine. Use caution, however, if you use this as a screen for renal disease, because many patients with HTN spill protein (despite a normal creatinine)
