Structural brain changes in patients who receive different durations of hemodialysis

Abstract

Background: Patients undergoing hemodialysis are at high risk for the development of cerebral vascular disease. There is still a need for further research on hemodialysis duration and cerebral small vessel disease, despite their importance. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the structural brain changes in patients who receive different durations of hemodialysis. Methods: The study involved 80 hemodialysis (HD) patients. These patients were divided into two groups; Group 1, included 41 patients who received HD for more than six months, and Group 2, consisted of 39 patients who received HD for less than six months. To investigate potential structural and vascular changes in the brain, we used a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine to perform brain scans on both groups. Results: Patients who underwent hemodialysis for a long period of time (median hemodialysis duration was up to 4 years) had smaller vessel disease than those who underwent hemodialysis for a shorter period of time (median hemodialysis was 3 to 5 months). The majority of the small vessel ischemia was seen in the pre-ventricular, subcortical, and white matter (Mean± SD: 1.33±0.471, 1.23±0.420, and 1.39±0.490). Moreover, other brain defects were identified, including pons abnormalities, global brain atrophy, corpus callosum thinning, and frontal lobe atrophy (P<0.01). Conclusion: The study found that patients who have been undergoing hemodialysis for a long period show evidence of subcortical and periventricular white matter disease.

Keywords

• hemodialysis
• hemodialysis duration
• brain changes
• mri