Comparison of ankle-brachial index and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity between patients with chronic kidney disease and hemodialysis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Patients with chronic renal failure are highly predisposed to atherosclerosis. However, there is limited data about the direct comparison of atherosclerosis between patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hemodialysis. The aim of this study was to compare ankle-brachial index (ABI) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) between patients with CKD and hemodialysis and thus examined the status of peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD) and arterial stiffness between them.

METHODS: We enrolled 169 patients with CKD stage 3-5 and 225 hemodialysis patients in one regional hospital. ABI and baPWV were measured by using an ABI-form device (VP1000, Colin).

RESULTS: A higher prevalence of ABI <0.9 was found in hemodialysis patients than in CKD patients (15.6 vs. 8.3%, p = 0.030). After a multivariate analysis, ABI <0.9 was associated with increased age, diabetes mellitus (DM), increased pulse pressure, decreased serum albumin level, and hemodialysis treatment. The baPWV was positively associated with age, DM, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and negatively with body mass index. However, after adjusting for other variables, baPWV was comparable between patients with CKD and hemodialysis.

CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed that PAOD might be more prevalent in patients with hemodialysis than in patients with CKD, but arterial stiffness might be comparable between them.