Cardiovascular disease in patients with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis in a developing country.

Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The present study was undertaken to identify the main cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors in 160 patients with ESRD on hemodialysis (HD) in Brazil. Their mean age was 47 ± 39 years. The main risk factors for cardiovascular diseases were arterial hypertension (89.4%), dyslipidemia (78.3%), low high-density lipoprotein levels (84.2%) and low physical activity (64.1%). Family history of coronary insufficiency and high low-density lipoprotein levels were significantly associated with coronary artery disease (P = 0.005 and P = 0.029, respectively). Sedentary life style, diabetes mellitus, secondary hyperparathyroidism and hyperglycemia also showed a significant association with the underlying vascular disease (P = 0.017, P = 0.039, P = 0.037 and P = 0.030, respectively). Hypercalcemia, hypertension and black race were factors significantly associated with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (P = 0.01, P = 0.0013 and P = 0.024, respectively). Our study shows that the most prevalent cardiovascular diseases in patients with ESRD were left ventricular hypertrophy, atherosclerotic disease, valvular disease and coronary artery disease. Hypertension and dyslipidemia were the common risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases. The present study was undertaken to identify the main cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors in 160 patients with ESRD on HD in a single center in Brazil.