Is uremic cardiomyopathy a direct consequence of chronic kidney disease?

Abstract

Heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Rather than merely secondary to traditional vascular factors, CKD is also an independent risk factor for heart failure, termed uremic cardiomyopathy (UCM). Echocardiography commonly reveals structural left ventricular hypertrophy in CKD, without clarifying whether it is adaptive or maladaptive. Corresponding functional assessments have been mostly conducted at rest. To unravel the extents and mechanisms UCM, a next step involves the adoption of direct measurements of CKD-induced cardiac pumping incapacity at peak exercise. This could potentially lead to future novel interventions to ameliorate or reverse UCM.

Keywords::

• cardiac reserve
• chronic kidney disease
• heart failure
• uremic cardiomyopathy

Acknowledgement

This work is supported by funding from Yorkshire Kidney Research Fund and Sheffield Kidney Research Foundation.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

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