The Relationship Between Traditional and New Atherosclerosis Indicators in Hemodialysis Patients

Cardiovascular disease based mortality levels in hemodialysis (HD) patients are high. The objective in this study was to investigate the relationship among traditional and newly described risk factors and carotid artery intima media thickness (CA-IMT) values in HD patients, and the contribution of HD duration to atherosclerosis development.

Twenty-five patients (22 male, 3 female, age [years] 48.84±18.32, HD duration [months] 8.68±3.1) receiving HD treatment for less than 1 year, 25 patients (16 male, 9 female, age [years] 45.52±13.43, HD duration [months] 112.68±41.62) receiving HD for more than 5 years, and a control group (6 male, 4 female, age [years] 46±5.83) compatible with the patient group in terms of age and gender, were included in the study. Serum cholesterol, triglyceride, homocysteine, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (HSCRP) levels, CA-IMT, carotid artery calcified plaque levels and mean arterial pressure (MAP) values were examined.

Both CA-IMT (mm) and HSCRP (mg/dL) levels were determined to be lower in the ≤1 year HD group (CA-IMT 0.62±0.14, HSCRP 1.07±0.89) than in the ≥5 year group (p = 0.04 and p = 0.04). Serum homocysteine (µmol/L) levels were higher in the HD groups (16.6±8.5 for the ≤1 year group, 18.7±10.1 for the ≥5 year group) than in the control group (10.1±4.7), although the values for the 2 dialysis groups were similar. A positive correlation was observed in the HD groups between HSCRP and CA-IMT and carotid artery calcified plaque numbers. No significant difference in serum cholesterol, triglyceride or OAB levels was determined between the study groups.

In conclusion, this study revealed a strong correlation among HSCRP and CA-IMT and carotid artery calcified plaque numbers in patients receiving HD treatment for ≤1 year and ≥5 years, and that HD duration may influence atherosclerosis development.