Researchers of a study investigating cardiac structure and function in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) found a higher prevalence of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction compared with healthy controls. Among 825 outpatients with CKD and 175 matched controls, 9% of patients with CKD exhibited LV hypertrophy compared to 1.7% of controls, with hypertrophy independently associated with increased urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio. Additionally, patients with CKD with lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (<60 ml/min/1.73m²) had significantly reduced global longitudinal strain, while systolic function, measured by left ventricular ejection fraction, was slightly lower in patients with CKD compared to controls.

The study also revealed that diastolic dysfunction was more common in patients with CKD (55%) than in controls (34%). Despite a lower prevalence of hypertrophy compared to previous studies, similar findings were reported for systolic and diastolic dysfunction. The variations in cardiac remodeling among CKD patients may be influenced by treatment, demographics, comorbidities, and underlying renal pathology, emphasizing the complex relationship between CKD and cardiovascular health.

Reference: Landler NE, Olsen FJ, Christensen J, et al. Associations Between Albuminuria, Estimated GFR and Cardiac Phenotype in a Cohort with Chronic Kidney Disease: The CPH-CKD ECHO Study. J Card Fail. 2022;28(11):1615-1627. doi: 10.1016/j.cardfail.2022.09.002.