Vascular Calcification in Mexican Hemodialysis Patients

Background and Aims ar calcification (VC) is a predictor of poor survival and cardiovascular outcome in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients; however, there is scarce information of VC in Latin America, and virtually no data in our setting. We undertook this study to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of VC in a hemodialysis (HD) population from western Mexico and to determine possible associated factors. s as a cross-sectional study performed in 52 patients. VC was evaluated using plain X-ray films (Adragaoʹs score) of hands and pelvis; clinical and biochemical variables were also collected. Statistical analysis was carried out with Student t and χ2 tests performed as appropriate and logistic regression to determine predictors of VC. s ge was 43 years, 48% were female, 23% had diabetes mellitus (DM), and median time on dialysis was 46 months. Percentage prevalence was 52% with a mean calcification score of 2.0 ± 2.6; 23% of patients had severe calcification. VC was present in about 23–37% among the different vascular territories evaluated (radial, digital, femoral and iliac). Patients with calcification were significantly older, had a higher frequency of DM, higher alkaline phosphatase and lower HDL lipoproteins than those without VC. In the multivariate analysis, VC in these patients was significantly predicted only by an older age (OR [95% CI]: 1.15 [1.01–1.31], p = 0.04); lower HDL-cholesterol and higher alkaline phosphatase were marginal predictors. sions f our HD patients had VC. Territories of radial, iliac, femoral and digital arteries were roughly equally affected, and 25% of patients had a calcification considered as severe. Older age was the only significant predicting variable for VC, with low HDL-cholesterol and high alkaline phosphatase as marginal predictors.