Left ventricular mass and cardiothoracic index in patients with chronic renal disease on hemodialysis.

INTRODUCTION

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk in patients with chronic renal disease (CRD) on hemodialysis (HD).

OBJECTIVE

To show the usefulness of chest radiography in the diagnosis of LVH in CRD patients on HD.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study including 100 patients (58 men and 42 women), mean age 46.2 ± 14.0 years, with CRD of all causes, for at least six months on HD. Were obtained echocardiogram and chest x-rays of patients, always up to one hour after the end of HD sessions.

RESULTS

LVH was detected in 83 patients (83%), of whom 56 (67.4%) had the concentric pattern and 27 (32.6%) with eccentric pattern of LVH. Cardiomegaly - defined by cardiothoracic index (CTI) > 0.5 - was present in 61 patients (61%). The following were the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy, respectively, for the variable ICT: 66.2%, 70.5% and 68.0%. The Pearson correlation between ICT and index of left ventricular mass (LVMI) was 0.552 (p < 0.05) and positive likelihood ratio of 2.2.

CONCLUSION

Chest radiography is a safe and useful as a diagnostic tool of LVH in CKD patients on HD.