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Published on: October 2, 2020
Serum Magnesium Levels and Mortality in Japanese Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients
Tomomi Tamura1, Kohei Unagami1, Masayuki Okazaki2
1Department of Medicine, Kidney Center, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
Insights
Higher serum magnesium (Mg) levels in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients showed a trend towards better survival and improved nutritional markers. Further interventional studies are needed to confirm if Mg supplementation benefits MHD patient prognosis.
Area of Science:
- Nephrology
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Hypomagnesemia is a known cardiovascular disease risk in the general population.
- The link between serum magnesium (Mg) and outcomes in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients remains understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association of serum Mg levels with aortic arch calcification (AoAC) and mortality in Japanese MHD patients.
Main Methods:
- Serum Mg levels were measured in 392 MHD patients, categorized into three groups.
- Patients were followed for 4 years, with AoAC assessed via chest X-rays.
Main Results:
- Higher serum Mg levels correlated with better nutritional status (higher albumin, triglyceride, phosphate) and lower C-reactive protein.
- A trend towards improved survival was observed in the high serum Mg group, though not statistically significant.
- 83 patients (59.3%) in the high serum Mg group were prescribed magnesium oxide (MgO).
Conclusions:
- Hypermagnesemia demonstrated a tendency towards better survival and higher MgO prescription rates.
- Interventional studies are necessary to determine the efficacy of Mg supplementation for improving MHD patient prognosis.
Background/Aims:
Although hypomagnesemia was found to be a risk for cardiovascular diseases in the general population, the relationship between serum magnesium (Mg) levels and prognosis of patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) has not been extensively studied. This study sought to determine the relationship of serum Mg levels with aortic arch calcification (AoAC) and mortality in Japanese MHD patients.
Methods:
We measured serum Mg levels in a cohort of 392 patients on MHD, classified the patients into 3 groups according to these levels, and followed their course for 4 years. AoAC was assessed using chest-X-rays.
Results:
During follow-up, there were 117 deaths. Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that the high serum Mg group tended to have better survival rates than the low and middle serum Mg groups but this did not reach statistical significance. We also found that patients in the high serum Mg group had better nutritional status associated with higher serum albumin, triglyceride, and phosphate levels and had a significantly lower serum C-reactive protein level. In total, 83 patients (59.3%) in the high serum Mg group had been prescribed Mg oxide (MgO).
Conclusions:
Hypermagnesemia tended to be associated with better survival and a higher prescription rate of MgO. Interventional studies are needed to clarify whether Mg supplementation is beneficial for improving patient prognosis.
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