Relationship between brachial-ankle and heart-femoral pulse wave velocities and the rapid decline of kidney function

The impact of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and heart-femoral pulse wave velocity (hfPWV) on rapid decline of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) has been inconclusive. The database of a multicenter prospective study of 2238 patients in Korea enrolled from 2011 to 2016 was reviewed. After excluding patients with missing baPWV (n = 257) and eGFR change (n = 180), the study included 1801 non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. The eGFR change <−5ml/min/1.73 m(2)/year was defined as rapid decline. During a mean of 2.2 years, the mean eGFR change was −3.6 ml/min/1.73 m(2)/year, and 31.6% of patients were classified as having rapid decline. Older age, causes of CKD, increased heart rate, systolic blood pressures, and proteinuria were associated with the highest baPWV quintile. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, the odds of a rapid decline in eGFR was 1.9 times higher in the fifth quintile than in the first quintile (P = 0.013). In a subset with baPWV and hfPWV (n = 1182), high baPWV was associated with rapid eGFR decline only when accompanied by a high hfPWV. These findings suggest that central and peripheral PWVs may simultaneously affect rapid eGFR decline.