title: [Association of heart valve calcification with cardiovascular outcomes in patients on maintenance hemodialysis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the impact of heart valve calcification (HVC) on cardiovascular outcomes in patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD).
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled 302 Chinese patients on MHD between 2009 and 2011 including 99 with HVC identified by echocardiography screening. All the patients were followed up for 2 years and survival analysis was performed with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and new onset cardiovascular events as the endpoints. Cox regression analysis was used for analyzing the impact of heart valve calcification on the cardiovascular outcomes of the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the total patients was 58.2∓15.0 years when receiving the initial MHD, and 53.6% were male patients. The overall mortality, cardiovascular mortality and new on-set cardiovascular events in HVC and non-HVC groups were 30.3% vs 16.3%, 22.2% vs 6.9%, and 48.5% vs 25.6%, respectively (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a significant difference in all-cause mortality (P=0.006), cardiovascular mortality (P<0.001) and new-onset cardiovascular events (P<0.001) between HVC and non-HVC groups. After adjustment, Cox regression analysis identified HVC as a risk factor for increased all-cause mortality (HR=1.88; 95%CI: 1.11-3.19), cardiovascular mortality (HR=3.47, 95%CI: 1.76-6.84) and cardiovascular events (HR=1.64, 95% CI: 1.09-2.47).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HVC is an independent risk factor for increased cardiovascular mortality and new cardiovascular events in patients on MHD.
authors.affiliation: Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.E-mail: 13580560903@139.com.
authors.forename: Zhi-Lian
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chao-Sheng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yuan-Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xin-Ling
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Rui-Zhao
authors.initials: RZ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Si-Jia
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Li-Xia
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zhong-Lin
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Hua-Ban
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Li-Fen
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000473:pathology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D006351:Heart Valves / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012307:Risk Factors