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To investigate the association between abdominal aortic calcification score (AACS) assessed by plain radiograph of the lateral abdomen and the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD), a total of 2090 pre-dialysis CKD patients from the Korean Cohort Study for Outcome in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (KNOW-CKD) were categorized by AACS into 0, 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, and ≥7. The primary outcome of the study was the composite CV events, defined as a composite of non-fatal CV events and all-cause death. The risk of composite CV events was significantly higher in the subjects with AACS ≥ 7 (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.888, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.219 to 2.923), compared to that of the subjects with AACS 0. The risks of fatal and non-fatal CV events (adjusted HR 1.052, 95% CI 1.030 to 1.073) and all-cause death (adjusted HR 1.949, 95% CI 1.073 to 3.539) were also significantly higher in the subjects with AACS ≥ 7. In conclusion, AACS assessed by plain radiograph is independently associated with adverse CV outcomes in patients with pre-dialysis CKD. A simple radiographic examination of the lateral abdomen may help CV risk stratification in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circulating osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a biomarker for cardiovascular complications that are closely related to chronic kidney disease (CKD). To investigate the association between circulating OPG level with long-term visit-to-visit blood pressure variability (BPV) in patients with pre-dialysis CKD, a total of 1855 subjects with CKD from stage 1 to pre-dialysis stage 5 from a prospective cohort were analyzed. Long-term visit-to-visit BPV was determined by average real variability (ARV), standard deviation (SD), and coefficient of variation (CoV) of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP). ARV of SBP (Adjusted β coefficient 0.143, 95% confidence interval 0.021 to 0.264) was significantly associated with serum OPG level. Although SD and CoV of SBP were not significantly associated with serum OPG level in multivariate linear regression analyses, restricted cubic spline visualized the linear correlation of serum OPG level with all of ARV, SD, and CoV. The association between serum OPG level and DBP variability was not significant. Subgroup analyses revealed that the association of serum OPG with BPV is more prominent in the subjects with Charlson comorbidity index ≤3 and in the subjects without history of diabetes mellitus. In conclusion, circulating OPG level is potentially associated with long-term visit-to-visit BPV in patients with pre-dialysis CKD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and kidney cancer is increasing, but studies on the effects of MetS and its components on kidney cancer development have had ambiguous results. Overall, 7,613,865 patients from the Korean National Health Insurance System were analyzed and followed up until 2017. Patients with ≥3 of the necessary five components of MetS were diagnosed with MetS. Patients were divided into subgroups according to two consecutive physical examinations conducted every two years. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to survey the independent association between MetS and the risk of kidney cancer development. Kidney cancer risk was significantly higher in patients with MetS, and there was no difference according to sex. The hazards ratio of kidney cancer increased with increasing number of MetS components. For patients not diagnosed with MetS but with abdominal obesity and hypertension, the likelihood of developing kidney cancer was similar to that of patients diagnosed with MetS. Patients with improved MetS within two years had increased risk of kidney cancer compared with those without MetS. MetS is an independent risk factor for kidney cancer, and the obesity and hypertension components of MetS are also powerful risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circulating osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a biomarker for cardiovascular complications that are closely related to chronic kidney disease (CKD). To investigate the association between circulating OPG level with long-term visit-to-visit blood pressure variability (BPV) in patients with pre-dialysis CKD, a total of 1855 subjects with CKD from stage 1 to pre-dialysis stage 5 from a prospective cohort were analyzed. Long-term visit-to-visit BPV was determined by average real variability (ARV), standard deviation (SD), and coefficient of variation (CoV) of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP). ARV of SBP (Adjusted β coefficient 0.143, 95% confidence interval 0.021 to 0.264) was significantly associated with serum OPG level. Although SD and CoV of SBP were not significantly associated with serum OPG level in multivariate linear regression analyses, restricted cubic spline visualized the linear correlation of serum OPG level with all of ARV, SD, and CoV. The association between serum OPG level and DBP variability was not significant. Subgroup analyses revealed that the association of serum OPG with BPV is more prominent in the subjects with Charlson comorbidity index ≤3 and in the subjects without history of diabetes mellitus. In conclusion, circulating OPG level is potentially associated with long-term visit-to-visit BPV in patients with pre-dialysis CKD.