Abstract

BackgroundCardiac valvular calcification (CVC) is prevalent in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Its association with mortality in Chinese incident haemodialysis (IHD) patients remains unknown.MethodsA total of 224 IHD patients who had just begun HD therapy at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, were enrolled and divided into two groups according to the detection of cardiac valvular calcification (CVC) by echocardiography. The patients were followed for a median of 4 years for all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality.ResultsDuring follow-up, 56 (25.0%) patients died, including 29 (51.8%) of cardiovascular disease. The adjusted HR related to all-cause mortality was 2.14 (95% CI, 1.05–4.39) for patients with cardiac valvular calcification. However, CVC was not an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in patients who had just begun HD therapy.ConclusionCVC at baseline is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in HD patients and makes an independent contribution to the prediction of all-cause mortality. These findings support the use of echocardiography at the beginning of HD.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call