Background:
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) strongly predicts sudden cardiac death and may elevate the risk of certain cardiac arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation; however, the relationships between CKD and various types of arrhythmia are not well-characterized.
Methods:
We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis by searching Embase and PubMed for prospective, cross-sectional, and case-control studies examining the associations of two key CKD measures, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria, with arrhythmias in adults that were published until July 2018. We performed qualitative assessment of studies using the Newcastle Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. We pooled the results using random-effects models.
Results:
Among 16,245 articles, we identified 34 prospective (n=24,213,233), 21 cross-sectional (n=253,328), and 4 case-control (n=1,694) studies that included diverse study populations from 19 countries and were mostly high quality. Most prospective studies examined the relationship between eGFR and atrial fibrillation (AF), and demonstrated that lower eGFR was associated with a higher risk of AF (pooled hazard ratio [HR] 1.72 [95% CI: 1.30, 2.27] comparing reduced vs. referent eGFR groups)[
Figure
]. A few studies examined albuminuria and demonstrated its associations with AF (pooled HR 2.16 [95% CI: 1.74, 2.67] comparing high vs. low albuminuria). Results were similar for cross-sectional studies. Four prospective studies reported a higher incidence of ventricular tachycardia resulting in ICD shock according to reduced eGFR (pooled HR 2.32 [95% CI: 1.74, 3.09] comparing reduced vs. referent eGFR groups). Limited number of studies examined other types of arrhythmia.
Conclusion:
We identified robust data on the relationship between CKD (eGFR and albuminuria) and AF. Reduced eGFR was associated with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Our review highlights the need of future studies for non-AF arrhythmias, especially in the context of albuminuria.
Chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease are risk factors for poor outcomes ofClostridium difficileinfection: a systematic review and meta-analysis
