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Background The traditional paradigm of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) progression among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients is a steady, nearly linear decline over time. We describe individual GFR progression trajectories over twelve years of follow-up among participants in the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK). Study Design Longitudinal, observational study Setting & Participants 846 AASK patients with at least 3 years of follow-up and 8 GFR estimates. Measurements Longitudinal GFR estimates (eGFR) from creatinine-based equations. Predictors Patient demographic and clinical features. Outcomes Probability of a nonlinear trajectory and probability of a period of nonprogression, calculated for each patient from a Bayesian model of individual eGFR trajectories. Results Three hundred and fifty-two (41.6%) patients exhibited a greater than 0.9 probability of having either a nonlinear trajectory or a prolonged nonprogression period; in 559 (66.1%), the probability was larger than 0.5. Baseline eGFR > 40 mL/min/1.73m2 and urine protein-creatinine < 0.22 g/g were associated with a higher likelihood of a nonprogression period. Seventy-four patients (8.7%) had both a substantial period of stable or increasing eGFR and a substantial period of rapid eGFR decline. Limitations Clinical trial population; absence of direct GFR measurements. Conclusions In contrast to the traditional paradigm of steady GFR progression over time, many CKD patients have a non-linear GFR trajectory or a prolonged period of nonprogression. These findings highlight the possibility that stable kidney disease progression can accelerate, and, conversely provide hope that CKD need not be relentlessly progressive. These results should encourage researchers to identify time-dependent factors associated with periods of nonprogression and other desirable trajectories.

BESITY HAS REACHED EPIdemic proportions in many developed countries, particularly the United States, where 66% of the adult population is considered overweight and 34% are obese, defined as a body mass index greater than 30. 1,2 Epidemiologists predict that the epidemic of obesity and its public health consequences will continue to increase over the next several decades, affecting both the developed and developing worlds. 3,4 An abdominal pattern of fat distribution produces For editorial comment see p 1601.

A direct relationship was observed between the burden of coronary atherosclerosis, its progression, and adverse cardiovascular events. The relationship between disease progression and outcomes largely reflected the need for coronary revascularization. These data support the use of atherosclerosis imaging with IVUS in the evaluation of novel antiatherosclerotic therapies.

Abstract-Ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitoring provides unique information about day-night patterns of blood pressure (BP). The objectives of this article were to describe ABP patterns in African Americans with hypertensive kidney disease, to examine the joint distribution of clinic BP and ABP, and to determine associations of hypertensive target organ damage with clinic BP and ABP. This study is a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the African American Study of Kidney Disease Cohort Study. Masked hypertension was defined by elevated daytime (Ն135/ 85 mm Hg) or elevated nighttime (Ն120/70 mm Hg) ABP in those with controlled clinic BP (Ͻ140/90 mm Hg); nondipping was defined by a Յ10% decrease in mean nighttime systolic BP; reverse dipping was defined by a higher nighttime than daytime systolic BP. Of the 617 participants (mean age: 60.2 years; 62% male; mean estimated glomerular filtration rate: 43.8 mL/min per 1.73 m 2 ) with both clinic BP and ABP, 498 participants (80%) had a nondipping or reverse dipping profile. Of the 377 participants with controlled clinic BP (61%), 70% had masked hypertension. Compared with those with controlled clinic BP or white-coat hypertension, target organ damage (proteinuria and left ventricular hypertrophy) was more common in those with elevated nighttime BP, masked hypertension, or sustained hypertension. In conclusion, clinic BP provides an incomplete and potentially misleading assessment of the severity of hypertension in African Americans with hypertensive kidney disease, in large part because of increased nighttime BP. Whether lowering nighttime BP improves clinical outcomes is unknown but should be tested given the substantial burden of BP-related morbidity in this population.