The clinical burden and prognostic role of diastolic dysfunction (DD), based on the latest American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) 2016 guidelines, remains unclear in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Moreover, risk mapping of concomitant systolic dysfunction and DD to evaluate the hazard of cardiovascular (CV) mortality in CKD remains unexplored.
This retrospective cohort study identified 20,257 adult patients who underwent comprehensive echocardiography between 2008 and 2016 at a tertiary medical center in central Taiwan. The patients were stratified by CKD stage, and the 3-year CV mortality risk in each CKD stratum was estimated through multivariable Cox proportional hazard modeling using left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and DD grades based on ASE 2016 guideline as the main risk factors.
Compared with patients with CKD stages 1 and 2, those with CKD stages 4 and 5 had a significantly lower LVEF and more severe DD. Both LVEF (LVEF < 40% vs. ≥ 60%; adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 3.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.54-3.97) and DD grade (severe DD vs. normal diastolic function; aHR 3.33, 95% CI 2.33-4.76) were independently associated with 3-year CV mortality in the entire study population and had comparable effect sizes. The corresponding aHRs further increased to 4.20 (2.45-7.21) and 4.54 (2.20-9.38) in patients with CKD stages 4 and 5. Systolic and diastolic dysfunction demonstrated mutually augmentative effects on CV mortality.
These findings suggest that the current practice of cardioprotection for patients with CKD should be prioritized at an early stage along with conventional nephroprotection.

Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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