NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with decreased kidney function have faster progression of clogged arteries in the neck and increased risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular events, research indicates.
Dr. Michel Chonchol, of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, and colleagues examined associations between different levels of kidney disease, the thickness of neck arteries -- an indicator of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) -- and cardiovascular events in 3364 individuals.
At the outset, 551 subjects (16.4 percent) had chronic kidney disease and the average thickness of the neck arteries, determined with ultrasound, was 0.79 mm. The average change in neck artery thickness was 0.02 mm/year.
The researchers report that a greater degree of kidney disease at the start of the study was associated with a greater change in neck artery thickness.
They also report that 36 individuals suffered cardiovascular events and those with the worst prognosis was had baseline kidney function less than the median and progression of neck artery thickness greater than the median.
This study confirms that "atherosclerosis burden is progressive as patients have deterioration of kidney function," Chonchol told Reuters Health.
"Although the association between cardiovascular disease and kidney disease is well established, very few studies have shown some type of imaging documentation of cardiovascular disease progression."
The researcher said that the next step is to examine various therapeutic modalities that might have an effect on carotid atherosclerosis in patients with kidney disease.
SOURCE: American Journal of Kidney Diseases, April 2008.
