Associations among estimated glomerular filtration rate, proteinuria, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Most studies of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and outcomes focus on mortality and ESRD, with limited data on other adverse outcomes. This study examined the associations among proteinuria, eGFR, and adverse cardiovascular (CV) events.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: This was a population-based longitudinal study with patients identified from province-wide laboratory data from Alberta, Canada, between 2002 and 2007. Selected for this study from a total of 1,526,437 patients were 920,985 (60.3%) patients with at least one urine dipstick measurement and 102,701 patients (6.7%) with at least one albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) measurement. Time to hospitalization was considered for one of four indications: congestive heart failure (CHF), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), peripheral vascular disease (PVD), and stroke/transient ischemic attacks [TIAs] (cerebrovascular accident [CVA]/TIA).

RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 35 months, in fully adjusted models and compared with patients with estimated GFR (eGFR) of 45 to 59 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) and no proteinuria, patients with heavy proteinuria by dipstick and eGFR ≥ 60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) had higher rates of CABG/PCI and CVA/TIA. Similar results were obtained in patients with proteinuria measured by ACR.

CONCLUSIONS: Risks of major CV events at a given level of eGFR increased with higher levels of proteinuria. The findings extend current data on risk of mortality and ESRD. Measurement of proteinuria is of incremental prognostic benefit at every level of eGFR. The data support use of proteinuria measurement with eGFR for definition and risk stratification in CKD.