The Effect of Renal Transplantation on Cardiac Functions

Abstract

Chronic renal failure is a well-known risk factor for cardiovascular poor outcome. Despite advances in dialysis and renal transplantation, these patients still have high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The aim of our study was to evaluate the changes in blood parameters and echocardiographic parameters of patients undergoing renal transplantation in our center. One hundred and eighty-three patients who underwent renal transplantation between September 2012 and January 2016 were included in the study. Pre- and postoperative hemoglobin values, lipid profiles, ejection fractions, presence of left ventricular hypertrophy, presence of diastolic dysfunction, and valve pathologies were retrospectively scanned. Data were obtained from all patients in terms of blood parameters, but we compared 92 patients’ echocardiographic data because of lack of both pre- and postoperative echocardiography records. In our study, 124 patients (67.8%) were male, and the mean age was 42.6 ± 14.4 years. Hemoglobin levels (11.2 ± 1.98, 12.7 ± 2.2 mg/dL, P <0.001) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) values (37.6 ± 10.5, 46.6 ± 13.6 mg/dL, P <0.001) were found to be different significantly. In echocardiographic evaluation, there was no difference between pre- and postoperative ejection fractions in 92 patients. However, patients with preoperative ejection fraction <50% had a significant increase in postoperative ejection fraction (40.1 ± 6.2, 48.4% ± 9.4%, P = 0.012). Renal transplantation can improve left ventricle ejection fraction in patients with basal ejection fraction less than 50% and also provide a significant increase in hemoglobin and HDL levels in all patients. This suggests that renal transplantation may reverse the process for dilated cardiomyopathy and may improve cardiac function in patients with low ejection fraction. However, transplantation should be performed as early as possible in these patients.