Relevance of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with terminal chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is a significant comorbidity and, simultaneously, the leading cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease. Objective: To describe the association between risk factors and cardiovascular disease in patients on a continuous hemodialysis plan. Method: A descriptive, longitudinal and retrospective study was conducted in 49 patients who participated in a continuous hemodialysis plan at the Calixto García Hospital in 2012. Odds ratio was used for the association between variables, with its confidence interval and Fisher's exact test. Results: 83.7% of patients were hypertensive and 71.4% showed left ventricular hypertrophy. Old age was the risk factor most consistently associated with such hypertrophy [OR=4.35 (CI=1.03 to 18.37); p = 0.036]. The risk factors that were associated with diastolic dysfunction included hypertension [OR=9.88 (CI=1.11 to 87.90); p=0.021], diabetes mellitus [OR=12.94 (CI=1.49 to 112.44); p=0.006], and hypoalbuminemia [OR=4.67 (CI=1.09 to 19.90); p=0.030]. No risk factor was associated with mitral valve disease. Conclusions: The most prevalent health condition was hypertension, and most of the population had left ventricular hypertrophy, which was associated with old age; just as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hypoalbuminemia were associated with diastolic dysfunction. No statistical association between mitral valve disease and any of the analyzed risk factors was found.