Predicting CV Risk in Elders with Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is strongly associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Is cardiovascular mortality in people with CKD more closely linked with novel risk factors (e.g., C-reactive protein [CRP], fibrinogen, interleukin-6 [IL-6]) or traditional ones (e.g., diabetes, hypertension)? To find out, researchers analyzed data from 5808 elderly participants (age ≥65) in the prospective, observational Cardiovascular Health Study.

At baseline, 21.5% of the cohort had CKD, defined as a glomerular filtration rate of less than 60 mL/minute/1.73 m². During a mean follow-up of 8.6 years, the cardiovascular-mortality rate was 16 deaths per 1000 person-years among participants without CKD and 32 deaths per 1000 person-years among those with…