It is prevailing wisdom that patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) progress more slowly if their blood pressure is well controlled. In fact, most modern guidelines suggest that for patients with CKD, a blood pressure of 130/80 should not be exceeded.

In the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, investigators cast doubt on this widely-held belief. In this anticipated report, patients with CKD but without proteinuria (<300 mg per day) and blood pressure targets of 140/90 fared equally well to those with blood pressure targets of 130/80. However, in those with protein excretion above 300 mg per day, the lower blood pressure target was superior. The authors conclude that in non-proteinuric patients, we should be targeting a less stringent goal of <140/90.

While these data are very interesting, one should pay close attention to what was considered proteinuria. A cutoff of 300 mg per day is a very low threshold; meaning, that many patients with hypertension may still benefit from the lower target. This trial is a very welcome one but take care not to paint all hypertensive patients with the same brush.