Uraemic Cardiomyopathy: an Overload Cardiomyopathy

Journal of Clinical and Basic Cardiology 2001; 4 (2): 93-95

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Keywords: Anämie,  Hypertonie,  linksventrikuläre Hypertrophie,  Niereninsuffizienz,  anaemia,  hypertension,  LVH,  renal failure

Despite myriad technological improvements, survival on dialysis remains worse than that for many cancer patients. The leading cause of death is cardiovascular, and disorders of LV structure and function (commonly termed uraemic cardiomyopathy) appear to be the most important arbiters of patient life span. Although some of the cardiac risk factors in renal patients are shared with the general population, others are unique to the uraemic state. Prospective cohort studies have shown that chronic anaemia and hypertension are independently linked to LV morphology and survival, but the role of many other uraemia-related cardiovascular risk factors remains unclear. Rigorous, prospective cohort studies are required to unravel the influences of homocysteine, oxidative stress, chronic inflammation and secondary hyperparathyroidism on cardiac outcomes in end stage renal disease. Since many of these risk factors begin well before the patients start dialysis and appear to be modified following renal transplantation, quality studies in both the chronic renal failure and the renal transplant populations are needed.