[Vascular calcifications in subjects with and without chronic renal failure: types, sites and risk factors].

Vascular calcifications worse outcomes in the general population and in patients on dialysis. We investigated 146 patients on chronic hemodialysis and 63 healthy controls with normal renal function under 65 years of age. All subjects underwent B-mode ultrasonography of common and internal carotid artery, abdominal aorta, common and superficial femoral artery and posterior tibial artery to assess the presence of intimal and medial calcifications.

[Severe 25-OH vitamin D deficiency in patients on chronic hemodialysis].

Introduction: 25-OH vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in general population and in chronic kidney disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate 25-OH-Vitamin D (25-D) serum levels in chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients and its relationship with cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular risk factors.

Material And Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study with 187 prevalent HD patients (106 M/ 81 F) in chronic hemodialysis.

[Arterial media calcification: from pathogenesis to diagnosis].

Patients with chronic kidneyl disease (CKD) have a higher cardiovascular mortality than the general population, in partly due to the development of arterial media calcification (AMC). It is still a matter of discussion as to whether arterial intimal calcification (AIC) and AMC should be considered as distinct entities with different pathogenesis or as a single nosological entity. The pathogenesis of mediocalcinosis is multifactorial.

[Pathophysiology and diagnosis of cardio-renal syndrome: actual picture and future prospectives].

The cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) indicates how close the relationship is between heart and kidney during failure of these organs. At present, the classification of the syndrome includes five types of CRS: types I and II which are strictly related to initial heart failure (both acute and chronic), types III and IV which include initial kidney failure, and type V which includes several systemic diseases. Many pathophysiological pathways have been described illustrating how heart and kidney disease are involved in clinical conditions.

Diagnosis of Arterial Media Calcification in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Purpose: Arterial media calcification (AMC) is often the only vascular calcification (VC) present in young patients with chronic renal failure and its presence is associated with higher mortality rates. Currently, X-ray imaging (as a standard approach) is able to show AMC in areas without diffuse overlapping arterial intimal calcification (AIC), but X-ray imaging only allows us to identify this lesion when the vessel is widely calcified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using ultrasonography as opposed to X-rays to visualize AMC in patients with chronic renal failure.

[Vascular calcifications in chronic kidney disease].

Vascular calcifications are associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Their prevalence is higher in patients with chronic kidney disease than in the general population and they are linked not only to classical risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and smoking but also to derangements in mineral metabolism and to chronic inflammation. The development of vascular calcifications is an active phenomenon that is linked to an imbalance between promoting and inhibitory factors.

[Erythrocytosis, renal artery stenosis and arterial hypertension in a kidney transplant recipient].

A 53-year-old man with end-stage renal disease received a cadaver kidney after 15 months of peritoneal dialysis. Within one year of transplantation he developed hypertension and erythrocytosis. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty was performed but 13 months later magnetic resonance angiography showed an anastomotic stenosis of the renal artery in the graft.