Impact of renal functional/morphological dynamics on the calcification of coronary and abdominal arteries in patients with chronic kidney disease

Aim: Fast-progressing vascular calcification (VC) is accompanied by renal atrophy and functional deterioration along with atherosclerosis in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the relationship between VC progression and renal functional and/or morphological changes remains unclear. Methods: We included 70 asymptomatic patients with CKD without hemodialysis in our study. To identify temporal variations, the coronary artery calcification score (CACS), abdominal aortic calcification index (ACI), and renal parenchymal volume index (RPVI) were determined via spiral computed tomography scans taken during the study. We investigated significant factors related to annualized variations of CACS (ΔCACS/y) and ACI (ΔACI/y). Results: During the follow-up period (4.6 years), median values of CACS [in Agatston units (AU)] and ACI increased from 40.2 to 113.3 AU (p₌0.053) and from 13.2 to 21.7% (p₌0.036), respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that CACS at baseline (p_＜0.001) and diabetes mellitus (DM) status (p₌0.037) for ΔCACS/y and ACI at baseline (p₌0.017) and hypertension (HT) status (p₌ 0.046) for ΔACI/y were significant independent predictors. Furthermore, annualized RPVI variation was significantly related to both ΔCACS/y and ΔACI/y (R₌－0.565, p_＜0.001, and R₌－0.289, p₌0.015, respectively). On the other hand, independent contributions of the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and annualized eGFR variation to VC progression were not confirmed. Conclusion: The degree of VC at baseline, DM, HT, and changes in renal volume, but not eGFR, had a strong impact on VC progression in patients with CKD.