Risk Assessment by Cardiovascular Biomarkers in Chronic Dialysis Patients (RACE)

Patients undergoing chronic dialysis are at a substantially increased risk of cardiac death. The reasons for this excess cardiovascular mortality are only partly understood. Classical complicated artherosclerotic disease does not appear to be the primary cause of cardiac death in chronic dialysis patients. In fact, the predictive potential of classic cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, obesity and hyperlipidemia appears to be reduced in dialysis. In contrast, in a series of pilot studies we found cardiac biomarkers to adequately reflect dialysis induced myocardial stunning, progressive cardiovascular disease, and the risk of death.

To extend and corroborate these results, we are planning a large, prospective, observational study enrolling unselected hemo- and peritoneal dialysis patients. The proposed study, its power calculation and hypotheses are based on our pilot studies