Arterial compliance in elderly men with chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with decreased arterial compliance (AC). The stage of development of impaired arterial function in CKD in relation to loss of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is not known. This study's aim was to evaluate the relationship between GFR and AC in patients with CKD. METHODS: We recruited 91 men aged > or =60 years with GFR 15-89 ml/min (mean 47 +/- 21) to evaluate the relationship between GFR and AC in a cross-sectional study. We measured AC at the brachial artery with an oscillometric device (brachial artery distensibility; BAD). RESULTS: There was no correlation between GFR and BAD (r = 0.08, p = 0.44). When stratified according to CKD stages, all groups showed decreased BAD compared with reference values, and there were no differences among them (one-way ANOVA). Bivariate analyses showed statistically significant correlations between BAD and age (r = -0.23, p = 0.03), antihypertensive drug number (r = 0.27, p = 0.009) and serum hemoglobin (r = 0.24, p = 0.02), but only age and antihypertensive drug number remained significant markers of BAD in a multiple regression model. CONCLUSION: Older men with CKD have impaired arterial function, but GFR and CKD stage have no relationship to the degree of decrease in brachial artery distensibility.