Abstract
We have determined an aortic calcification index (CI) calculated from 8-10 slices of abdominal CT scan according to the method of Watanabe et al. and a pulse wave velocity (PWV), an indicator of aortic elasticity, by the method of Hasegawa et al. in 60 patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) and in 90 subjects without chronic renal failure including 16 normal controls (NHD). In addition, CI was compared with the degree of blood pressure, cardiomegaly, electrocardiogram (ECG) and PWV in HD.
CI in same generation, especially in erderly, was significantly higher in HD than in NHD.
There were no significant correlations of the presence and absence of CI to the frequency of hypertention, normotention and the ischemic changes of ECG whereas cardiomegaly tended to be highly related to the presence of CI.
CI in HD gradually increased in parallel to hemodialysis period. CI was highly correlated to PWV in NHD but not in HD.
The results obtained in the present study demonstrated that aortic calcification which could be an indicator of atherosclerosis was accelerated in HD as compared with that of NHD in same generation.
