Blood pressure and cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction

Managing Heart Failure in Patients on Dialysis: State-of-the-Art Review

Heart failure (HF) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) frequently coexist; 1 comorbidity worsens the prognosis of the other. HF is responsible for almost half the deaths of patients on dialysis. Despite patients' with ESKD composing an extremely high-risk population, they have been largely excluded from landmark clinical trials of HF, and there is, thus, a paucity of data regarding the management of HF in patients on dialysis, and most of the available evidence is observational. Likewise, in clinical practice, guideline-directed medical therapy for HF is often down-titrated or discontinued in patients with ESKD who are undergoing dialysis; this is due to concerns about safety and tolerability. In this state-of-the-art review, we discuss the available evidence for each of the foundational HF therapies in ESKD, review current challenges and barriers to managing patients with HF on dialysis, and outline future directions to optimize the management of HF in these high-risk patients.

[Associations of mean arterial pressure levels with mortality in patients with peritoneal dialysis]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the associations between mean arterial pressure (MAP) and mortality in patients with peritoneal dialysis (PD).

METHODS

A total of 1737 patients with terminal renal diseases under PD in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University from 2008 to 2016 were enrolled. Patients were followed up for 33.0(19.3, 52.4) months. The mean arterial pressure over the first 3 months of PD therapy were calculated. All-cause death and cardiovascular death were assessed using Cox regression models adjusted for demographics, laboratory measurements, comorbid conditions and antihypertensive medications.

RESULTS

During the follow-up, 208 patients died, among which 95(45.7%) patients died of cardiovascular causes. Compared with patients with MAP >95-<120 mmHg, patients with MAP ≤ 95 mmHg were associated with significantly higher risk of all-cause death (HR=1.40,95%CI:1.01-1.93,P<0.05); patients with MAP ≥ 120 mmHg were associated with significantly higher risk of all-cause (HR=2.12,95%CI:1.32-3.40, P<0.01) and cardiovascular morality (HR=2.55, 95%CI:1.38-4.70, P<0.01). MAP presents a U-shaped association with all-cause mortality and a J-shaped association with cardiovascular mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Both high MAP and low MAP are associated with higher risk of mortality in PD patients.

Predialysis hypotension is not a predictor for mortality in long-term hemodialysis patients: insight from a single-center observational study

Introduction

Predialysis hypotension has been noted to be a predictor of mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Previous studies evaluating the impact of predialysis hypotension on the mortality of HD patients did not exclude patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) or cardiovascular disease.

Methods

Eight hundred and sixty-six patients on maintenance HD were recruited. Clinical parameters were recorded and subjected to the analysis of predictors of predialysis hypotension and mortality.

Results

Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that DM (odds ratio [OR]: 0.439, P=0.002), hypertension history (OR: 0.634, P=0.022), Kt/V Daugirdas (OR: 2.545, P=0.001), anuria (OR: 2.313, P=0.002), serum phosphate (OR: 0.833, P=0.010), and serum triglyceride (OR: 1.002, P=0.012) were associated with predialysis hypotension. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age (P<0.001), male sex (P=0.029), anuria (P=0.004), and DM (P=0.011) were associated with higher probability of 24- and 36-month mortality. Predialysis hypotension was not associated with higher probability of 12-, 24-, and 36-month mortality.

Conclusion

Predialysis hypotension is not a predictor of 12-, 24-, and 36-month survival in patients without DM and with higher dialysis adequacy.

Postdialysis Hypertension: Associated Factors, Patient Profiles, and Cardiovascular Mortality

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

A postdialytic increase in blood pressure (BP) is a recognized but often an overlooked complication. The epidemiology and predisposing factors are still not well defined. We studied a large sample of Italian dialysis patients to assess the prevalence of postdialysis hypertension (PDHYPER), defined as any increase of systolic BP (SBP) >10mm, Hg above the predialysis value, the associated factors and its role in cardiovascular (CV) mortality.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In this observational study, we assessed dialysis associated changes in BP in 4,292 hemodialysis (HD) patients over 1 month (51,504 sessions). We compared the clinical characteristics of the patients with stable BP values during the HD session with those with PDHYPER. We also assessed the impact of PDHYPER on CV mortality.

RESULTS

A total of 994 (23.1%) patients had PDHYPER. Patients with PDHYPER were more likely to be hypertesive, older, have a shorter dialysis vintage, be male, have lower SBP, lower changes in weight during HD, and receive more antihypertensive medications. These predictive factors were shown to be associated with an interaction between weight loss and dialysis, suggesting a volume-related mechanism in its pathogenesis. PDHYPER was also associated with CV mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

In our study on a large Italian cohort of dialysis patients, the prevalence of PDHYPER was higher than what was previously reported and is a significant risk factor for CV mortality in dialysis patients. The pathogenesis is multifactorial but hypertensive state, antihypertensive medications, and extracellular volume expansion appear to play a major role.