Laboratory markers of ventricular arrhythmia risk in renal failure

Sudden cardiac death continues to be a major public health problem. Ventricular arrhythmia is a main cause of sudden cardiac death. The present review addresses the links between renal function tests, several laboratory markers, and ventricular arrhythmia risk in patients with renal disease, undergoing or not hemodialysis or renal transplant, focusing on recent clinical studies. Therapy of hypokalemia, hypocalcemia, and hypomagnesemia should be an emergency and performed simultaneously under electrocardiographic monitoring in patients with renal failure. Serum phosphates and iron, PTH level, renal function, hemoglobin and hematocrit, pH, inflammatory markers, proteinuria and microalbuminuria, and osmolarity should be monitored, besides standard 12-lead ECG, in order to prevent ventricular arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death.