Insuficiencia renal en pacientes cardiológicos: buscar para encontrar / Frequency of kidney failure in cardiologic patients: the need to search

ABSTRACT

Background: Chronic kidney disease is a major health problem since it is associated with a high cardiovascular risk, total morbidity and mortality, increasing prevalence and high cost treatment. Aim: To assess the frequency of chronic kidney disease among patients consulting in a cardiology clinic. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional assessment of 649 patients attended at a cardiology clinic. Demographic, clinical, electrocardiographic, echocardiographic and laboratory variables were registered. Patients were considered to have a kidney failure when their estimated glomerular filtration rate was < 60 ml/min/1.73 m² according to the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formula. Kidney failure was considered chronic if this alteration lasted ≥ 3 months and hidden when serum creatinine levels were normal. Results: The frequency of kidney failure was 20.8% (28.4% in patients ≥ 65 years old). The mean age of patients with the disease was 71.5 ± 9.1 years and 52% were women. Eighty seven percent were in stage 3, 10% in stage 4 and 3% in stage 5. Among patients with kidney failure, in 114 (84%) it was chronic and in 28%, hidden. The latter was observed almost exclusively in women with creatinine levels of approximately 1 mg/dl. Hypertension (Odds ratio (OR) 4.2), age (OR 1.1), ventricular ejection fraction (OR 0.97) and low hemoglobin (OR 0.735) were the risk factors for kidney failure detected in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions: The frequency of kidney failure (chronic or hidden) was high in this group of cardiologic patients. Most patients had a mild to moderate failure and the risk factors were hypertension, age, low ventricular ejection fraction and low hemoglobin levels.