[Absolute cardiovascular risk among nephrology patients]

Patients with renal diseases (defined by proteinuria or pre-dialysis chronic renal failure) usually exhibit high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The true excess of risk associated with proteinuria or high creatinine level in this population is however poorly acknowledged. This paper aims to review the epidemiological evidence pointing at high cardio-vascular burden in these patients. This paper further analyzes whether the high cardio-vascular risk is related to a high prevalence of established risk factors or results from other factors more specific of renal diseases. Applicability to renal populations of "absolute" cardiovascular risk equations derived from Framingham Study is discussed.