ALB and chronic kidney disease: Table 1 showed that there were no significant differences between the two groups regarding the proportion of patients with comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation), the relevant laboratory parameters (hemoglobin, serum albumin, and sodium), and the proportion of patients who took concomitant medications (hydrochlorothiazide, ARB/ACEI, β-blocker). The baseline characteristics of the patients in each group are shown in Table 1.