【Abstract】 Objective To assess arterial stiffness, its related risk factors and the roles of these factors in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients without dialysis. Methods We recruited 378 outpatients with CKD treated in the Renal Clinic of Peking University Third Hospital from March, 2006 to Oct., 2007. Arterial stiffness was evaluated by measuring carotid-femoral artery pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV). Clinical information and biochemical data were collected. The correlation of these data was then analyzed. Results Among the 378 CKD patients, CF-PWV was positively correlated with age (P＜0.001), systolic blood pressure (P＜0.001), pulse pressure (P＜0.001), blood glucose (P＜0.001), amount of 24 hours urine protein (P=0.003), and metabolic syndrome (P=0.001), and was negatively correlated with creatinine clearance (P＜0.001) and HDL-C (P=0.018). CF-PWV was unrelated with sex (P=0.052), body mass index (P=0.156), triglycerides (P=0.951), and product of calcium and phosphorus (P=0.932). Multiple regression analysis found that CF-PWV was positively and independently associated with age (B=0.063, P＜0.001), pulse pressure (B=0.047, P=0.004) and amount of 24 hours urine protein (B=0.6, P=0.001). Conclusion In CKD patients without dialysis, CF-PWV correlates with a number of traditional risk factors to cardiovascular disease, urine protein amount, and creatinine clearance. Therefore, CF-PWV may be a useful method to early predict the risk of cardiovascular disease in CKD patients. Arterial stiffness may also play an important role in cardiovascular disease in CKD patients.
