Left ventricular filling pressure by Doppler echocardiography in patients with end-stage renal disease

Left ventricular hypertrophy and systolic dysfunction predict mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease. However, the prognostic value of left ventricular filling pressure has remained uncertain in this population. We evaluated whether the early mitral inflow velocity to peak mitral annulus velocity (E/Em) ratio, an estimate of left ventricular filling pressure by tissue Doppler imaging, has significant additional prognostic value to conventional echocardiographic parameters and other clinical and biochemical parameters in 220 patients with end-stage renal disease. The E/Em ratio was elevated (>15) in 62% of the patients. Multivariate analysis showed that an elevated E/Em ratio had the highest correlation with left ventricular volume index, followed by loss of residual glomerular filtration rate, increasing age, worsening ejection fraction, and diabetes. During the median follow-up of 48 months, the E/Em ratio emerged as an independent predictor of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.027; 95% CI: 1.003 to 1.051; P=0.026) and cardiovascular death (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.033; 95% CI: 1.002 to 1.065; P=0.035) in the multivariable Cox regression analysis. In addition, the E/Em ratio added significant incremental prognostic value for all-cause mortality (P=0.035) and cardiovascular death (P=0.035) beyond the standard clinical, biochemical, and dialysis parameters and echocardiographic measurements. In conclusion, the E/Em ratio displayed important additional long-term prognostic information above and beyond that of left ventricular mass and systolic function. Our data suggest that left ventricular filling pressure should be estimated during echocardiographic examination for additional prognostication in patients with end-stage renal disease.