Peripheral Artery Disease Diagnosed by Pulse Palpation as a Predictor of Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

There is a need of simple, inexpensive, and reliable noninvasive testing to predict coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), where the prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) events and death is elevated. We analyzed the association between peripheral artery disease (PAD) and CAD in 201 patients with stage 5 CKD on dialysis using a prospective observational cohort. Diagnosis of PAD by both palpation and USD were significantly correlated. In patients with PAD diagnosed by palpation, CAD was observed in 80%, while in those diagnosed by USD, CAD was present in 79.1%. The absence of a pulse by palpation predicted CAD with a sensitivity of 55% and a specificity of 76%; USD showed a sensitivity of 62% and specificity of 60% to predict CAD. The risk of combined serious CV events and death was significantly higher in subjects with PAD diagnosed by palpation, but not by USD. PAD assessed by palpation also correlated with the occurrence of multivessel CAD and with the probability of coronary intervention. Both methods are moderately useful for predicting CAD, but PAD diagnosis by palpation was a better predictor of combined CV events and death and was also associated with CAD severity and likelihood of intervention.

Diastolic and systolic left ventricular dysfunction and mortality in chronic kidney disease patients on haemodialysis.

AIMS: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) and LV systolic dysfunction (LVSD) are prevalent in CKD, but their prognostic relevance is debatable. We intent to verify whether LVDD and LVSD are independently predictive of all-cause mortality and if they have comparable or different effects on outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted of the echocardiographic data of 1285 haemodialysis patients followed up until death or transplantation. LVDD was classified into 4 grades of severity. Endpoint was all-cause mortality. RESULTS: During a follow-up of 30 months, 419/1285 (33%) patients died, 224 (53%) due to CV events. LVDD occurred in 75% of patients, grade 1 DD was the prevalent diastolic abnormality, and pseudonormal pattern was the predominant form of moderate-severe DD. Moderate-severe LVDD (HR 1.379, CI% 1.074-1.770) and LVSD (HR 1.814, CI% 1.265-2.576) independently predicted death; a graded, progressive association was found between LVDD categories and the risk of death; and the impact of isolated severe-moderate LVDD on the risk of death was comparable to that exercised by isolated compromised LV systolic function. CONCLUSION: Moderate-severe LVDD and LVSD were independently associated with a higher probability of death and had a similar impact on survival. A progressive association was observed between LVDD grades and mortality.

Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cardiovascular Risk in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

INTRODUCTION: It is unclear whether the increased risk associated with diabetes in patients on dialysis is due to diabetes or a consequence of associated cardiovascular disease (CVD). AIM: The purpose of this work was to answer the question: do diabetes and CVD have a similar impact on the incidence of cardiovascular events in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis? METHODS: A prespecified protocol was used to prospectively evaluate and follow up 310 diabetic patients on hemodialysis without clinical evidence of CVD and 395 nondiabetic patients with CVD. Endpoint was the incidence of composite CV events and coronary events. RESULTS: The incidence of composite CV events (log-rank = 0.540) and coronary events (log-rank = 0.400) did not differ between groups. Because of the potential influence of occult CVD in patients with diabetes, we repeated the analysis excluding subjects with altered ejection fraction, a myocardial perfusion scan defect, and coronary artery disease in the group of patients with diabetes. Again we found no difference between groups (log-rank = 0.657). CONCLUSION: In patients on hemodialysis, diabetes and CVD carry similar risks for CV events. These results are congruent with the diabetes mellitus-CVD equivalence risk concept reported in the general population.

Coronary Artery Disease Assessment and Intervention in Renal Transplant Patients: Analysis from the KiHeart Cohort.

BACKGROUND: The value of coronary artery disease (CAD) assessment and coronary intervention in the prognosis of patients who undergo renal transplantation is controversial. We investigated whether pretransplant identification of patients with CAD is helpful for defining prognosis and whether preemptive coronary intervention reduces the incidence of cardiovascular events and death after engraftment. METHODS: We analyzed the impact of coronary assessment by clinical stratification and coronary angiography and of coronary intervention on prognosis in 535 chronic kidney disease patients on the transplantation waiting list who underwent renal transplantation. RESULTS: Patients with 70% or greater narrowing experienced more coronary events than patients with less significant lesions (P = 0.01) and subjects at low risk (P = 0.001). Coronary assessment did not discriminate between the risk of death in patients with or without significant CAD, and the independent predictors of death were age (hazards ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.06, P = 0.001) and diabetes (hazards ratio, 1.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-2.39, P = 0.01). No difference occurred in events and mortality between patients treated medically or by intervention, but the severity of CAD was higher in the latter. CONCLUSIONS: Coronary assessment identified patients at increased risk of posttransplant coronary events and was also useful to define a low-risk population that may be safely transplanted without in-depth cardiovascular evaluation. However, it did not differentiate between the risk of death in patients with and those without significant CAD. Survival was similar in patients undergoing either medical or interventional treatment for CAD.

High dose of N-acetylcystein prevents acute kidney injury in chronic kidney disease patients undergoing myocardial revascularization.

BACKGROUND: The renoprotective effect of N-acetylcystein in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery is controversial. METHODS: We assessed the renoprotective effect of the highest dose of N-acetylcystein sanctioned for clinical use in a prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled study including 70 chronic kidney disease patients, stage 3 or 4, who underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery, on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and off CPB, and were randomly allocated to receive either N-acetylcystein 150 mg/kg followed by 50 mg/kg for 6 hours in 0.9% saline or only 0.9% saline. Acute kidney injury was defined by the Acute Kidney Injury Network classification. RESULTS: The incidence of kidney injury was reduced in the N-acetylcystein group (57.1% versus 28.6%, p=0.016). Nonuse of N-acetylcystein (relative risk 3.58, 95% confidence interval: 1.04 to 12.33, p=0.04) and cardiopulmonary bypass (relative risk 4.55, 95% confidence interval: 1.28 to 16.15, p=0.02) were independent predictors of kidney injury. In patients treated with CPB, N-acetylcystein reduced the incidence of kidney injury from 63% to 46%. Oxidative stress was increased in control subjects (p=0.01) and abolished in patients receiving N-acetylcystein. CONCLUSIONS: Maximum intravenous doses of N-acetylcystein reduce the incidence of acute kidney injury in patients with kidney disease undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery, abolish oxidative stress, and mitigate the negative effect of CPB on renal function.

Renal artery stenosis predicts coronary artery disease in patients with hypertension.

In hypertensive patients with indication of renal arteriography to investigate renal artery stenosis (RAS) there are no recommendations regarding when to investigate coronary artery disease (CAD). Moreover, the predictors of CAD in patients with RAS are not clear. We aimed to evaluate the frequency and the determinants of CAD in hypertensive patients referred to renal angiography. Eighty-two consecutive patients with high clinical risk suggesting the presence of RAS systematically underwent renal angiography and coronary angiography during the same procedure. Significant arterial stenosis was defined by an obstruction ≥ 70% to both renal and coronary territories. Significant CAD was present in 32/82 (39%) and significant RAS in 32/82 (39%) patients. Both CAD and RAS were present in 25.6% from the 82 patients. Patients with severe CAD were older (63 ± 12 vs. 56 ± 13 years; p = 0.03) and had more angina (41 vs. 16%; p = 0.013) compared to patients without severe CAD. Significant RAS was associated with an increased frequency of severe CAD compared to patients without significant RAS (66% vs. 22%, respectively; p<0.001). Myocardial scintigraphy showed ischemia in 21.8% of the patients with CAD. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that RAS ≥ 70% was independently associated with CAD ≥ 70% (OR: 11.48; 95% CI 3.2-40.2; p<0.001), even in patients without angina (OR: 13.48; 95%CI 2.6-12.1; p<0.001). Even considering a small number of patients with significant RAS, we conclude that in hypertensive patients referred to renal angiography, RAS ≥ 70% may be a strong predictor of severe CAD, independently of angina, and dual investigation should be considered.

Influence of coronary artery disease assessment and treatment in the incidence of cardiac events in renal transplant recipients.

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND: The best strategy for pre-transplant investigation and treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD) is controversial. METHODS: We evaluated 167 renal transplant recipients before transplantation to determine the incidence of cardiac events and death. We performed clinical evaluations and myocardial scans in all patients and coronary angiography in select patients. RESULTS: Asymptomatic patients with normal myocardial scans (n=57) had significantly fewer cardiac events (log-rank=0.0002) and deaths (log-rank=0.0005) than did patients with abnormal scans but no angiographic evidence of CAD (n=76) and individuals with CAD (n=34) documented angiographically. CAD increased the probability of events (HR=2.27, % CI 1.007-5.11; p=0.04). The incidence of cardiac events (log-rank=0.349) and deaths (log-rank=0.588) was similar among patients treated medically (n=23) or by intervention (n=11). CONCLUSION: Asymptomatic patients with normal myocardial scans had a better cardiac prognosis than did patients with or without CAD and positive for myocardial ischemia. Patients with altered scan and CAD had the poorer outcome. Guideline-oriented medical treatment is safe and yields results comparable to coronary intervention in renal transplant patients with CAD. The data do not support preemptive myocardial revascularization for renal transplant candidates.

Vascular changes in chronic renal disease patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism.

BACKGROUND: Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) and its metabolic consequences - high serum phosphate and calcium x phosphate (Ca x P) product - are associated with cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease (CKD). We evaluated the relationship between PTH, mineral metabolism, vascular reactivity and arterial stiffness in patients with CKD. METHODS: The study included 31 CKD patients and 12 matched controls. Brachial artery diameter was recorded at baseline and after reactive hyperemia (flow-mediated vasodilation) and 0.45 mg of trinitrate, to analyze the flow-dependent and flow-independent responses. Large vessel stiffness was evaluated on the common carotid artery. RESULTS: Compared with controls, both flow-mediated (5.8% +/- 4.3% vs. 11.6% +/- 5.4%; p<0.001) and flow-independent (11.7% +/- 7.6% versus 23% +/- 7.5%; p<0.001) vasodilation were reduced in CKD. Flow-mediated vasodilation was negatively correlated with PTH (r=-0.416, p<0.05) and age (r=-0.365, p<0.05) and positively with flow-independent vasodilation (r=0.483, p<0.01). Blood pressure, dialysis duration, hematocrit and serum levels of Ca, P, and Ca x P product, lipids, and medications did not influence flow-mediated function. Carotid distension correlated independently and negatively with age (r=-0.681, p<0.01) and Ca x P product (r=-0.496, p<0.01) but was not influenced by PTH. CONCLUSION: In CKD, PTH adversely affects vascular reactivity, possibly by interfering with endothelial function, while large vessel distension is influenced by Ca x P product but not by PTH. This result suggests a dual mechanism of vascular aggression in SHPT: an endothelial effect mediated by PTH and a media/adventitial effect linked to alterations in mineral metabolism.