Cardiovascular disease risk factors in chronic kidney disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health burden and is independently associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk. Assessment of cardiovascular risk in the general population using prognostic models based on routinely collected risk factors is embedded in clinical practice. In CKD, prognostic models may misrepresent risk due to the interplay of traditional atherosclerotic and non-traditional risk factors. This systematic review's aim was to identify routinely collected risk factors for inclusion in a CKD-specific cardiovascular prognostic model. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND MEASUREMENTS: Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational cohort studies and randomized controlled trials. Studies identified from MEDLINE and Embase searches using a pre-defined and registered protocol (PROSPERO ID-2016:CRD42016036187). The main inclusion criteria were individuals ≥18 years of age with non-endstage CKD. Routinely collected risk factors where multi-variable adjustment for established cardiovascular risk factors had occurred were extracted. The primary outcome was fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events. RESULTS: The review of 3,232, abstracts identified 29 routinely collected risk factors of which 20 were presented in more than 1 cohort. 21 cohorts were identified in relation to 27,465 individuals and 100,838 person-years. In addition to established traditional general population cardiovascular risk factors, left ventricular hypertrophy, serum albumin, phosphate, urate and hemoglobin were all found to be statistically significant in their association with future cardiovascular events. CONCLUSIONS: These non-traditional risk factors should be assessed in the development of future cardiovascular prognostic models for use in individuals with CKD.

Aspirin and cardiovascular primary prevention in non-endstage chronic kidney disease: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Chronic kidney disease is a strong independent predictor of cardiovascular disease. No published meta-analyses on the use of aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease exist. We therefore performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of this subject. METHODS: We used a pre-defined and registered protocol (PROSPERO identification CRD42014008860). We searched Medline and Embase between 1996 and July 2015. Inclusion criteria were adult subjects with non-endstage chronic kidney disease (CKD) and no history of cardiovascular disease. The co-primary outcomes were major cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included bleeding-related events. We used a random effects model to pool data. RESULTS: Three trials were identified and two of these provided previously unpublished data. The studies included 4468 participants and 16,740 person-years of follow-up. There were no statistically significant reductions in the risk of major cardiovascular events (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.49 to 1.73, p = 0.79, I(2) 71%) or mortality (RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.55 to 1.00, p = 0.05, I(2) 0%) with aspirin compared to the control group. Major bleeding events were increased with aspirin though (RR 1.98, 95% CI 1.11 to 3.52, p = 0.02, I(2) 0%). CONCLUSIONS: There is no clear benefit of aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events in CKD and no statistically significant reduction in mortality. Aspirin is likely to increase the risk of major bleeding events. Currently, insufficient randomised control trial data exists to recommend universal use or avoidance of aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular events in CKD.