IRBLleida Researchers show that arterial ultrasound helps to determine the risk of cardiovascular disease in kidney patients

Researchers at the Institute of Biomedical Research of Lleida (IRBLleida) and University of Lleida (UdL) have shown that arterial ultrasound (an economic, painless and accessible test) improves the prediction that kidney patients suffer from cardiovascular disease. Arterial ultrasound can detect atheromatous plaques (accumulated fat in the arteries), a predictor of cardiovascular events, as published in Plos One.

The study was conducted with 2,445 patients with chronic kidney disease, with no history of cardiovascular disease, from 81 centers in Spain, within the framework of the NEFRONA project. In addition to the baseline visit, 48 months have been monitored for these patients to be able to analyze them.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the world population and also in patients with chronic kidney disease. "Studies from the 1970s to 1980s showed that there were a number of factors that distinguished people with cardiovascular disease (diabetes, smoking, cholesterol, age, etc.) quite well, and with the information from these factors, risk factors that attempt to predict a person's likelihood of having a cardiovascular event (for example, a myocardial infarction) in the next few years, "said one of the investigators and professor at the UdL, José Manuel Valdivielso. But these classic risk formulas underestimate the risk of cardiovascular disease in adults with chronic kidney disease. In fact, renal patients have more cardiovascular complications than non-renal ones. Therefore, this study has sought an alternative, a new predictor parameter, such as arterial ultrasound, to calculate the risk of kidney patients.