Abstract: The final treatment step for chronic kidney disease patients is maintenance dialysis. The selection of hemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD) is based on conditions of the patients. HD patients have more factors for vascular calcification. The traditional factors include dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes. The nontraditional factors include the serum levels of FGF-23, Klotho, the extracellular end product receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) binding protein S100A12 (EN-RAGE), serum soluble tumor necrosis factor like weak inducer of apoptosis (STWEAK), and fetuin A. This review further describes the factors involved in vascular calcification in hemodialysis patients and the strategies to reduce the risk of vascular calcification in dialysis patients.

Key words: Hemodialysis, vascular calcification, factor analysis