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Assessment of Vascular Function in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease
08:50

Assessment of Vascular Function in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

Published on: June 16, 2014

Surrogate markers of cardiovascular disease in CKD: what's under the hood?

Mario F Rubin1, Sylvia E Rosas, Julio A Chirinos

  • 1Massachussetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. mfrubin@partners.org

American Journal of Kidney Diseases : the Official Journal of the National Kidney Foundation
|December 21, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Cardiovascular risk assessment uses noninvasive tests like ankle-brachial index and carotid ultrasound to detect early disease. These methods help estimate risk, especially in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Nephrology
  • Vascular Medicine

Background:

  • Cardiovascular diseases (heart attack, stroke) arise from long-term risk factor exposure.
  • Noninvasive procedures can assess cumulative risk and detect subclinical disease.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review noninvasive methods for cardiovascular risk assessment.
  • To emphasize the role of these measures in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Main Methods:

  • Ankle-brachial index (ABI) for major vessel obstruction.
  • Carotid ultrasound for atherosclerotic burden (intima-media thickness, plaque).
  • Aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) for arterial stiffness.
  • Echocardiography for left ventricular mass (hypertensive heart disease).

Main Results:

  • ABI estimates lower limb arterial obstruction.
  • Carotid ultrasound quantifies atherosclerotic plaque and intima-media thickness.
  • aPWV measures large artery stiffness.
  • Echocardiography assesses subclinical hypertensive heart disease.

Conclusions:

  • Noninvasive tests provide valuable cardiovascular risk stratification.
  • These assessments are crucial for managing patients with chronic kidney disease.
  • Early detection of subclinical disease aids in cardiovascular event prevention.

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