ABSTRACT
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the main cause of death in renal transplant recipients. The aim of the present study was to determine the frequency and risk factors of post-transplantation CAD and its influence on the long-term results of surgery, as well as to evaluate the efficiency of myocardial revascularization in patients with severe CAD. Analysis of the observation of 479 renal recipients (332 men and 147 women) aged 38.69 +/- 11.2 was performed. The mean follow-up period was 64.56 +/- 37.44 months. Sixty-eight patients had diabetes mellitus. CAD was diagnosed in 14.8% (71 out of 479) renal recipients; in 12.7% of patients it developed de novo and was revealed 32.4 +/- 18.6 months after the surgery. Ten-year survival of renal recipients with CAD was only 39%, while in the group of non-CAD patients it was 75% (p < 0.0001). Age more than 45, male gender, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, infections, pre-existing left ventricular myocardial hypertrophy, and renal transplant dysfunction were defined as significant risk factors of CAD de novo. Multi-factor Cox model found only age more than 45 (p < 0.009), male gender (p < 0.00001), and hyperlipidemia (p < 0.0058) to be independent risk factors of CAD. Myocardial revascularization was performed in 29 patients with coronary lesions: 27 patients underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty with stenting and 2 patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (5 and 52 months after renal transplantation). However, angioplasty had to be repeated in 6 out of 27 (22%) patients within 3 to 6 months. The average follow-up duration was 23 months (2 to 74 months) after revascularization. Prolonged effect (more than 12 months) was achieved in 17 out of 29 (58.6%) patients. None of the patients developed myocardial infarction after revascularization. Two patients died 28 and 35 months after angioplasty due to extracardial complications (hepatic cirrhosis and an oncological disease); one patient died 78 months after repeated revascularization from progressive cardiac insufficiency while receiving dialysis due to a relapse of renal transplant insufficiency. Thus, CAD develops in 14.8% of renal transplant recipients; in 12.7 of patients it develops de novo. There are conventional and nonconventional post-transplantation CAD risk factors, which include renal transplant dysfunction and post-transplantation infections. Association with myocardial hypertrophy, observed in a significant number of patients, is a feature of post-transplantation CAD. Coronary revascularization, angioplasty with stenting in particular, may be considered to be an effective method of CAD treatment in renal transplant recipients.