Abnormal left ventricular mass and aortic distensibility in pediatric dialysis patients

There is ample evidence that the same pathophysiological processes that affect cardiovascular function in adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) also operate in children with ESRD. In adults undergoing hemodialysis (HD), a good correlation has been established between left ventricular mass (LVM) and aortic distensibility (AD) as markers of cardiovascular disease progression; however, this correlation has not been established in children. Therefore, in this retrospective study we investigated some aspects of cardiovascular damage (i.e., LVM, LVMI, and AD) in children with ESRD undergoing HD ( n =9) or peritoneal dialysis (PD, n =9), and analyzed the relationship between AD, LVM, LVMI, pre-dialysis, post-dialysis blood pressure (BP), and demographic factors in children and adolescents with ESRD. Both LVM and AD were significantly greater in the dialysis population than in a control population derived from our institutional files ( P =0.015, P =0.001). LVM and LVMI in children undergoing HD (92.9±83.7 g, 80.1±31.1 g/cm) were not statistically different from the values in children on PD (130.0±89.2 g, 89.6±35.9 g/cm), ( P =0.3, P =0.5). AD in children on HD (2.2±0.55 cm² * dynes^–1*10–6) was significantly lower than in children on PD (2.7±0.54 cm² * dynes^–1*10–6), ( P =0.01). The findings in this study confirm earlier studies that demonstrated that LVMI is greater in children on dialysis. This study also demonstrates that abnormal vascular stiffness, as defined by AD, is present in these children. The degree of vascular stiffness in children receiving HD is greater than in children receiving PD. However, further study is needed to address how control of BP, uremia, and other factors may affect these abnormalities in children with ESRD.