Abstract: Objective To investigate the relationship between cardiac valve calcification (CVC) and carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) and its influential factors in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Methods MHD patients with dialysis duration of ≥1 year were enrolled in this study. Cardiac echocardiography and carotid artery color Doppler ultrasound examination were performed in the patients. Mineral metabolism, lipid metabolism, inflammation and malnutrition related indicators were collected and analyzed. Results Eighty MHD patients (50 males and 30 females) were included in this study. The average age was 61.2±13.2 years, and the average dialysis duration was 64.8±55.8 months. Age, body mass index (BMI), hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), hypertriglyceridemia and hypercalcinemia were significantly different between 41 patients with CVC and CAS and 20 patients without CVC and CAS (P＜0.05). Age, dialysis duration, hsCRP, hypercalcinemia and subjective global assessment (SGA) were significantly different between 47 patients with CVC and 33 patients without CVC (P＜0.05). Age, diabetes, BMI, hsCRP, serum albumin (Alb), hypertriglyceridemia, Ca, SGA and Kt/V were significantly different between 54 patients with CAS and 26 patients without CAS (P＜0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that age and hsCRP were the common risk factors for CVC and CAS (P＜0.05), hsCRP and serum Ca were the independent risk factors for CVC (P＜0.05), and age and hsCRP were the independent risk factors for CAS (P＜0.05). Conclusion CVC often accompanied with CAS. The presence of CVC and CAS in MHD patients was related to their age, hsCRP level and hypercalcinemia.

Key words: cardiac valve calcification, carotid atherosclerosis, hemodialysis