Progression of Aortic Arch Calcification Over 1 Year Is an Independent Predictor of Mortality in Incident Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

Background: We aimed to investigate the association between aortic arch and coronary artery calcification (CAC). We postulated that low‐ and high‐risk CAC scores could be predicted with the evaluation of standard chest radiography for aortic arch calcification (AAC). Patients and methods: Consecutive patients who were referred for a multidetector computerized tomography (MDCT) examination were enrolled prospectively. All patients were scanned using a commercially available 64‐slice MDCT scanner for the evaluation of CAC score. A four‐point grading scale (0, 1, 2 and 3) was used to evaluate AAC on the standard posterior‐anterior chest radiography images. Results: The study group consisted of 248 patients. Median age of the study group was 52 (IQR: 10) years, and 165 (67 %) were male. AAC grades (r = 0.676, p < 0.0001) and age (r = 0.518, p < 0.0001) were significantly and positively correlated with CAC score. Presence of AAC was independently associated with the presence of CAC (OR: 11.20, 95 % CI 4.25 to 29.52). An AAC grade of ≥ 2 was the strongest independent predictor of a high‐risk CAC score (OR: 27.42, 95 % CI 6.09 to 123.52). Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis yielded a strong predictive ability of AAC grades for a CAC score of ≥ 100 (AUC = 0.892, P < 0.0001), and ≥ 400 (AUC = 0.894, P < 0.0001). Absence of AAC had a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 90 %, 84 % and 89 %, respectively, for a CAC score of < 100. An AAC grade of ≥ 2 predicted a CAC score of ≥400 with a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 68 %, 98 % and 95 %, respectively. Conclusions: AAC is a strong and independent predictor of CAC. The discriminative performance of AAC is high in detecting patients with low‐ and high‐risk CAC scores.

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Serum albumin and von Willebrand factor: possible markers for early detection of vascular damage in children undergoing peritoneal dialysis

Clinical & Investigative Medicine ◽

10.25011/cim.v39i4.27090 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 111 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Nuran Cetın ◽

Nadide M Sav ◽

Duran Karabel ◽

Ali Yildirim ◽

Bilal Yıldız

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Peritoneal Dialysis ◽

Early Detection ◽

Serum Albumin ◽

Von Willebrand Factor ◽

Independent Predictor ◽

Left Ventricular ◽

Dialysis Patients ◽

Von Willebrand ◽

Willebrand Factor

Purpose: Cardiovascular diseases are the main causes of morbidity and mortality in children with end-stage renal disease and the relationships among several relevant potential biomarkers were investigated in pediatric peritoneal dialysis patients. Methods: Serum homocysteine, von Willebrand factor (vWF), apolipoproteins A and B, lipoprotein-a, high sensitive-CRP, hemoglobin, phosphorus and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were measured in 21 pediatric peritoneal dialysis patients and control subjects. Results: All risk factors were higher in patients than controls. LVMI values were negatively correlated with hemoglobin and positively correlated with PTH and phosphorus levels (p=0.007, r= - 0.573; p=0.013, r= 0.532 and p=0.035, r= 0.461, respectively). cIMT was negatively associated with serum albumin and positively correlated with vWF levels and with SBP and DBP (p=0.006, r= - 0.578; p=0.039, r= 0.453; p=0.02, r= 0.503; p=0.024, r= 0.491, respectively). Robust regression analyses showed that hemoglobin was an independent predictor of LVMI and serum albumin was an independent predictor of cIMT. Conclusion: Only uremia-related factors were independent risk factors for predicting LVMI and cIMT. Hemoglobin level may be a critical factor in the development of left ventricular hypertrophy; therefore, effective treatment of anemia is crucial. Low serum albumin and high hsCRP and vWF levels, and their correlations with cIMT, indicate these patients could be at risk of developing malnutrition–inflammation–atherosclerosis syndrome and suggest that serum albumin and vWF levels may be useful markers for early detection of vascular damage.

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