Rationale and design for the Predictors of Arrhythmic and Cardiovascular Risk in End Stage Renal Disease (PACE) study.

Rulan S Parekh,Tariq Shafi,Bernard G Jaar,Joao A Lima,Lucy A Meoni,W H Linda Kao,Larisa G Tereshchenko,Michelle M Estrella,Gordon F Tomaselli,Stephen M Sozio

doi:10.1186/s12882-015-0050-4

Abstract

BackgroundSudden cardiac death occurs commonly in the end-stage renal disease population receiving dialysis, with 25% dying of sudden cardiac death over 5 years. Despite this high risk, surprisingly few prospective studies have studied clinical- and dialysis-related risk factors for sudden cardiac death and arrhythmic precursors of sudden cardiac death in end-stage renal disease.Methods/DesignWe present a brief summary of the risk factors for arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in persons with end-stage renal disease as the rationale for the Predictors of Arrhythmic and Cardiovascular Risk in End Stage Renal Disease (PACE) study, a prospective cohort study of patients recently initiated on chronic hemodialysis, with the overall goal to understand arrhythmic and sudden cardiac death risk. Participants were screened for eligibility and excluded if they already had a pacemaker or an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator. We describe the study aims, design, and data collection of 574 incident hemodialysis participants from the Baltimore region in Maryland, U.S.A.. Participants were recruited from 27 hemodialysis units and underwent detailed clinical, dialysis and cardiovascular evaluation at baseline and follow-up. Cardiovascular phenotyping was conducted on nondialysis days with signal averaged electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, pulse wave velocity, ankle, brachial index, and cardiac computed tomography and angiography conducted at baseline. Participants were followed annually with study visits including electrocardiogram, pulse wave velocity, and ankle brachial index up to 4 years. A biorepository of serum, plasma, DNA, RNA, and nails were collected to study genetic and serologic factors associated with disease.DiscussionStudies of modifiable risk factors for sudden cardiac death will help set the stage for clinical trials to test therapies to prevent sudden cardiac death in this high-risk population.

Highlights

Sudden cardiac death occurs commonly in the end-stage renal disease population receiving dialysis, with 25% dying of sudden cardiac death over 5 years
Studies of modifiable risk factors for sudden cardiac death will help set the stage for clinical trials to test therapies to prevent sudden cardiac death in this high-risk population
The PACE Study is unique compared to other dialysis cohorts, as all participants are recruited within 6 months of initiating chronic hemodilaysis

Summary

Introduction

Sudden cardiac death occurs commonly in the end-stage renal disease population receiving dialysis, with 25% dying of sudden cardiac death over 5 years. There are a number of noninvasive markers of myocardial vulnerability including electrocardiogram (ECG) changes at rest or from ischemia, and alterations in dynamic ECG parameters which can be used to risk stratify persons at risk for sudden death and represent intermediate markers of SCD risk [8,9]. Some of these ECG measures represent various mechanisms of developing life-threatening arrhythmias and include heart rate variability (HRV), ventricular late potentials (VLP), and QT interval prolongation

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