Pulmonary hypertension among patients on dialysis and kidney transplant recipients

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a serious cardiac complication among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). We investigated pulmonary hypertension and its associated factors among patients who were on chronic dialysis and kidney transplant recipients. One hundred-eighty patients in three groups of hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (PD), and kidney transplant were studied. Demographic and clinical characteristics and echocardiographic findings were evaluated. A multivariable linear regression model was used to find factors associated with pulmonary artery pressure. The mean age of participants was 50.3 ± 15.5 years and 63.9% were male. We found pulmonary hypertension (mean pulmonary artery pressure >25 mmHg) in 31.6%, 8.3%, and 5% of the patients on HD, PD, and transplant recipients, respectively (p < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, being on HD (B = 5.276, confidence interval [CI] 95%: 1.211-9.341), age (B = -0.319, CI 95%: -0.501 to -0.138), smoking (B = 11.631, CI 95%: 1.847-21.416), systolic cardiac dysfunction (B = 6.313, CI 95%: 3.073-9.554), and diastolic cardiac dysfunction (B = 5.227, CI 95%: 1.176-9.277) were associated with systolic pulmonary artery pressure. These results showed that pulmonary hypertension is a frequent cardiac complication among patients with ESRD, and the type of renal replacement therapy (HD), systolic and diastolic cardiac dysfunction, and smoking are associated with increased pulmonary artery pressure. Further studies with larger sample sizes and also prospective studies are recommended in this regard.