Cardiovascular Events in Hemodialysis Patients: Challenging against Vascular Calcification

Particularly in patients with hemodialysis, cardiovascular mortality rate is extremely high. Polyvascular diseases develop at an early stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Pathophysiology includes insulin resistance and/or imbalance between nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin bioavailability as well as oxidative stress. The understanding in pathophysiology of vascular calcification and strategic treatment is a critical issue to achieve favorable outcome for the patients with CKD. In this article, we aim to review the cardiovascular disease for the patients with CKD with a particular emphasis on the clinical aspects of polyvascular disease. Finally, we address to detect microcirculatory impairment and eradicate vascular calcification as early as possible prior to renal replacement therapy. (This is a translation of Jpn J Vasc Surg 2016; 25: 359–365.)