All patients were submitted to office blood pressure measurement, Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and 24-hour Holter monitoring.
Baseline blood samples for the measurement of glycemia (mg/dL), total cholesterol (mg/dL), LDL cholesterol (mg/dL), triglycerides (mg/dL), creatinine (mg/dL), serum uric acid, serum sodium, serum potassium, plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) and plasma renin activity (PRA) were collected at 08:00 after overnight fasting.
