Cardiac remodelling and functional alterations in mild-to-moderate renal dysfunction: comparison with healthy subjects

INTRODUCTION: Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) and reduced LV function correlate with poor prognosis in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Our aim is to investigate whether mild-to-moderate CKD is associated with cardiac abnormalities. METHODS: Echocardiography, including tissue Doppler imaging, was performed in 103 patients with CKD at stages 2–3 and 4–5, and in 53 healthy controls. The systolic (s′) and diastolic myocardial velocity (e′), and the transmitral diastolic flow velocity (E) were measured, and E/e′ was calculated. RESULTS: Patients with chronic kidney disease had higher mean E/e′ than controls (mean E/e′: controls 5·00 ± 1·23 versus CKD 4–5 6·36 ± 1·71, P<0·001 and versus CKD 2–3 5·69 ± 1·47, P = 0·05), indicating altered diastolic function in the patients. The CKD groups showed lower longitudinal systolic function than controls, as assessed by atrio-ventricular plane displacement and s′ (mean s′: controls 11·5 ± 1·9 cm s(−1) versus CKD 4–5 10·4 ± 2·1 cm s(−1), P = 0·03 and versus CKD 2–3 10·4 ± 2·1 cm s(−1), P = 0·02). The prevalence of LVH was higher in patients with CKD than in controls (controls 13% versus CKD 4–5 37%, P = 0·006 and versus CKD 2–3 30%, P = 0·03). CONCLUSION: Alterations in systolic and diastolic myocardial function can be seen in mild-to-moderate CKD compared with controls, indicating that cardiac involvement starts early in CKD, which may be a precursor of premature cardiac morbidity.