Pulse pressure is an independent predictor of aortic stiffness in patients with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease.

Background: In patients with end-stage renal disease pulse wave velocity (PWV) has been widely assessed, but its behavior in mild to moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been less investigated. We evaluated PWV in mild to moderate CKD.

Methods: We studied 31 patients with grade II-IV CKD. Aortic PWV (aPWV), aortic and upper limb augmentation index, creatinine clearance, C-reactive protein, serum fibrinogen, interleukin-1, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor, albumin, total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and blood pressure were evaluated.

Results: aPWV (7.95 +/- 0.64 m/s), but not augmentation index was significantly higher (p = 0.03) in CKD patients than age-matched healthy subjects (aPWV: 6.24 +/- 0.43 m/s; upper limb: 32.8 +/- 1.9; aortic: 27.7 +/- 1.9). At univariate regression analysis, aPWV was significantly correlated with age (r = 0.44; p = 0.013), interleukin-6 (r = 0.43; p = 0.027), pulse (r = 0.39; p = 0.029), systolic blood pressure (r = 0.37; p = 0.038) and tumor necrosis factor (r = 0.39; p = 0.029). At multivariate analysis, pulse pressure was the only significant independent determinant (beta = 0.37; p = 0.05) of aPWV.

Conclusion: The results of this study confirm an aPWV increase in mild to moderate CKD and emphasize association between pulse pressure and PWV, independently of renal failure.