title: Correlates of the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in long-term kidney transplant patients.
abstract: Coronary artery disease remains the leading cause of early death and graft loss in renal transplant patients. The aim of this study was to identify clinical and echocardiographic parameters independently associated with the angiographically-determined severity of coronary atherosclerosis in long-term kidney transplant patients. Fifty-two kidney transplant recipients who underwent elective coronary angiography were reviewed retrospectively. Angiographic severity was evaluated using the modified Gensini index (MGI). The mean age at coronary angiography was 52.5+/-7.9 yr with a mean prior transplant duration of 118.1+/-58.8 months. Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated a positive correlation of MGI with transplant duration before coronary angiography and chronic allograft nephropathy, whereas an inverse correlation was demonstrated with ejection fraction and statin use. On subsequent multivariate linear regression analysis, transplant duration before coronary angiography, statin use, and ejection fraction were independently associated with the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in long-term kidney transplant patients. In summary, our study demonstrates that statin use, ejection fraction, and transplant duration before coronary angiography are independent parameters associated with the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in long-term kidney transplant patients. Further investigation is required to reduce the atherosclerotic burden in kidney transplant patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Wonkwang University College of Medicine Sanbon Hospital, Gunpo, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Wook
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Shin-Wook
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Ho Yung
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong-Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Won-Heum
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Soon Il
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yu Seun
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyu Hun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic