Associations of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy and Geometry with Adverse Outcomes in Patients with CKD and Hypertension.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and abnormal left ventricular (LV) geometry predict adverse outcomes in the general and hypertensive populations, but findings in CKD are still inconclusive. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: We enrolled 445 patients with hypertension and CKD stages 2-5 in two academic nephrology clinics in 1999-2003 who underwent both echocardiography and ambulatory BP monitoring. LVH (LV mass >100 g/m(2) [women] and >131 g/m(2) [men]) and relative wall thickness (RWT) were used to define LV geometry: no LVH and RWT≤0.45 (normal), no LVH and RWT>0.45 (remodeling), LVH and RWT≤0.45 (eccentric), and LVH and RWT>0.45 (concentric). We evaluated the prognostic role of LVH and LV geometry on cardiovascular (CV; composite of fatal and nonfatal events) and renal outcomes (composite of ESRD and all-cause death). RESULTS: Age was 64.1±13.8 years old; 19% had diabetes, and 22% had CV disease. eGFR was 39.9±20.2 ml/min per 1.73 m(2). LVH was detected in 249 patients (56.0%); of these, 125 had concentric LVH, and 124 had eccentric pattern, whereas 71 patients had concentric remodeling. Age, women, anemia, and nocturnal hypertension were independently associated with both concentric and eccentric LVH, whereas diabetes and history of CV disease associated with eccentric LVH only, and CKD stages 4 and 5 associated with concentric LVH only. During follow-up (median, 5.9 years; range, 0.04-15.3), 188 renal deaths (112 ESRD) and 103 CV events (61 fatal) occurred. Using multivariable Cox analysis, concentric and eccentric LVH was associated with higher risk of CV outcomes (hazard ratio [HR], 2.59; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.39 to 4.84 and HR, 2.79; 95% CI, 1.47 to 5.26, respectively). Similarly, greater risk of renal end point was detected in concentric (HR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.44 to 3.80) and eccentric (HR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.42 to 3.74) LVH. Sensitivity analysis using LVH and RWT separately showed that LVH but not RWT was associated with higher cardiorenal risk. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with CKD, LVH is a strong predictor of the risk of poor CV and renal outcomes independent from LV geometry.

Regression of asymptomatic cardiomyopathy and clinical outcome of renal transplant recipients: a long-term prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Asymptomatic left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is highly prevalent and associated with an adverse outcome in renal transplant recipients (RTRs). Nonetheless, there are currently no available studies analyzing the effect of LVH regression on solid clinical endpoints in these patients. METHODS: This study is the prospective observational extension of two randomized controlled trials aimed at assessing the effect of active intervention on post-transplant LVH in RTRs. We evaluated the incidence of a composite of death and any cardiovascular (CV) or renal event in 60 RTRs in whom LVH regression was observed and in 40 whose LVH remained unchanged or worsened. RESULTS: During an 8.4 ± 3.5-year follow-up, 8 deaths, 18 CV events and 6 renal events occurred in the entire cohort. Multivariable analysis showed that age [hazard ratio (HR) 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.12 each 1 year, P = 0.002] and LVH regression (HR 0.42, 95% CI 0.22-0.87, P = 0.019) were significant predictors of the composite endpoint. Kaplan-Meier estimates showed better survival rates in patients in whom actual LVH regression was achieved (P < 0.001, log-rank test). Age (HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.03-1.15 each 1 year, P = 0.004), better graft function (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91-0.99 each 1 mL/min/1.73 m(2) increase in estimated glomerular filtration rate, P = 0.03) and LVH regression (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.22-0.79, P = 0.01) were significant predictors of the CV endpoint. Patients with a left ventricular mass index decrease also showed better cardiac event-free survival (P = 0.0022, log-rank test). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate that LVH regression, regardless of the therapeutic strategy adopted to achieve it, portends better long-term clinical outcome in RTRs.

High performance of a risk calculator that includes renal function in predicting mortality of hypertensive patients in clinical application.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of a risk calculator that includes renal function as compared with that of the traditional Framingham Risk Score (FRS) in predicting the risk of mortality of hypertensive individuals managed in primary care. METHODS: From the databases of British and Italian General Practitioners, we retrieved demographic and clinical data for 35 101 UK and 27 818 Italian individuals aged 35-74 years with a diagnosis of hypertension. Then, the 5-year incidence of cardiovascular events as well as all-cause and cardiovascular mortality were recorded for both samples. A comparison analysis of the performance of the Individual Data Analysis of Antihypertensive Intervention Trials (INDANA) calculator with that of FRS in predicting 5-year all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk was made. RESULTS: The INDANA calculator was more accurate than the FRS in predicting all-cause [Δc 0.038, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.026-0.051 for United Kingdom, and 0.018, 95% CI 0.010-0.027 for Italy, both P < 0.0001] and cardiovascular mortality (Δc 0.050, 95% CI 0.027-0.074 for United Kingdom, and 0.080, 95% CI 0.059-0.101 for Italy, both P < 0.0001). By using the INDANA calculator, 20% of the UK and 10% of the Italian patients were reclassified to higher risk classes for all-cause mortality, and 25 and 28%, respectively were reclassified when cardiovascular mortality was assessed (P < 0.0001 for all). CONCLUSION: The INDANA calculator proved to be more accurate than the FRS in predicting the risk of mortality in hypertensive patients and should be considered for systematic adoption for risk stratification of hypertensive individuals managed in primary care.