Abstract:

Objective To determine the incidence of abdominal aortic calcification (ACC) and its relationship with cardiovasculare diseases (CVD) in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Methods One hundred and sixty-four patients with chronic kidney disease of stage 5D undergoing MHD were selected as study objective. The parameters of renal function, fasting blood glucose, blood lipid, serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), blood calcium, blood phosphorus, total iron binding capacity, serum intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) and serum ferritin (SF) were measured, the urea clearance index Kt/V was calculated, and abdominal aorta calcification (AAC) score was assessed with abdominal lateral X-ray examination. The incidence, distribution characteristics and severity of AAC were analysed, the relationship between AAC and clinical parameters was explored, the incidences of CVD were compared between patients with calcification and those without calcification, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCROC) was used for evaluation of accuracy of AAC in diagnosis of CVD in patients undergoing MHD. Results The incidence of AAC was 68.9%. The incidence of calcification and degree of calcification increased from L1 to L4 (P<0.05, P<0.001). Correlation analysis indicated that AAC was positively related to age（r=0.290，P<0.001）, dialysis vintage (r=0.225，P=0.004), iPTH (r=0.342，P=0.043) and calcitrol dosage (r=0.21, P=0.006). The incidence of CVD in patients with calcification was significantly higher than that in patients without calcification (52.2% vs 29.4%，P=0.007). AAC score in patients with CVD was significantly higher than that in patients without CVD (P<0.001). AUCROC of AAC in diagnosis of CVD was 0.658 (95%CI 0.573-0.742, P<0.001). Conclusion The incidence of ACC is higher in patients undergoing MHD. ACC develops from the distal part to the proximal part, and the severity of ACC increases from the proximal part to the distal part. The incidence of ACC is related to the development of CVD.

Key words: maintenance hemodialysis, abdominal aorta calcification, abdominal aorta calcification score, cardiovascular disease