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Abstract
To determine whether mitral valve or anulus calcification (MC) in patients with end-stage
renal disease is associated with abnormalities of left ventricular (LV) structure
and function, cardiac characteristics of 55 patients undergoing continuous ambulatory
peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) with (n = 26; age: 59 +/- 10 years) vs without (n = 29;
age: 58 +/- 12 years) MC were analyzed using echocardiography and Doppler echocardiography.
Sclerosis of the mitral valve anulus was detected in 18 (7 women, 11 men; age: 58
+/- 10 years) patients, sclerosis of mitral valve leaflets in 24 (13 women, 9 men;
age: 59 +/- 10 years) patients. Patients with MC had higher systolic arterial blood
pressure before initiation of dialysis therapy (191/104 mm Hg vs 173/94 mm Hg; p <
0.05) and higher calcium-phosphorus products (55 +/- 13 vs 42 +/- 16; p < 0.05) during
CAPD therapy than those without MC. Neither prevalence nor severity of MC was related
to dialysis duration or patient age. Systolic LV function was reduced (ejection fraction:
58 +/- 12 percent vs 65 +/- 13 percent; p < 0.05) and LV end-diastolic diameters were
dilated (54 +/- 5 vs 50 +/- 8 mm; p < 0.05) in patients with MC. Left atrial dilatation
(73 percent vs 31 percent; p < 0.005) and mitral valve regurgitation (65 percent vs
21 percent; p < 0.001) were more frequent in patients with vs those without MC. Excluding
patients with significant mitral regurgitation from pulsed Doppler analysis, diastolic
LV function was comparably impaired in patients with vs those without MC (maximal
early/atrial filling velocity ratio: 0.77 +/- 0.25 vs 0.75 +/- 0.22; atrial filling
fraction: 47 +/- 10 percent vs 48 +/- 11 percent; p = NS). The presented data suggest
that MC follows long-standing and severe arterial hypertension before start of dialysis
therapy. Therefore, effective blood pressure control in the predialysis period may
be a tool to prevent these lesions. MC has clinical significance as a marker of LV
dilatation and reduced LV systolic function in patients with chronic CAPD.