24-hour Arterial Stiffness Monitoring in Kidney Transplant Recipients in the Early Postoperative Period

Laboratory tests and anthropometric assessments are essential in determining the risk for cardiovascular disease in patients after kidney transplantation (KTx). Patients with hypertension and elevated pulse wave velocity (PWV) are at a higher risk of cardiovascular mortality. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and selected laboratory and anthropometric parameters in estimating the risk of cardiovascular disease in KTx patients.

A total of 17 KTx patients of the Clinical Department of Gastroenterological Surgery and Transplantation at Central Clinical Hospital of Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA Hospital) in Warsaw, Poland, were enrolled in this study between 3 to 7 days after undergoing kidney transplantation. Medical records of these patients were reviewed for the selected laboratory parameters. The patients' blood pressure and PWV values were monitored for 24 hours and their body mass index (BMI) values were calculated (BMI ≥ 25.0 is considered overweight).

Hemoglobin concentration showed a negative correlation with PWV (r = -0.6), whereas red blood cell distribution width (RDW) showed a positive correlation with the PWV value (r = 0.29). There was a significant correlation (r = 0.21) between overweight measured via BMI and the PWV values. For results of kidney function blood tests, the estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and creatinine levels showed no significant correlation with 24-hour PWV values (GFR r = -0.03; creatinine r = 0.03).

The following were shown to be important indices of cardiovascular risk in the evaluated population of KTx patients: age, BMI, blood pressure, PWV, hemoglobin levels, red blood cells, and RDW%.