Cardiac function in end-stage renal disease

To assess cardiac status in end-stage renal disease, we compared clinical, ECG, and echocardiographic data from 37 patients on maintenance hemodialysis with data from 42 patients with functioning renal transplants. Cardiovascular symptoms and abnormal cardiovascular findings were more common in dialysis-maintained patients than in those with transplants. Follow-up studies indicated that despite a high prevalence of cardiac symptoms, abnormal physical signs, and dilated left ventricles among patients with end-stage renal disease, systolic left ventricular function was generally well preserved irrespective of renal failure therapy. Compared with maintenance hemodialysis, however, successful renal transplantation is associated with an overall enhancement of cardiac status, the majority of which is probably secondary to transplant-associated improvement in hemoglobin level and control of intravascular volume.