Cardiovascular risk factor prevalence, mortality and cardiovascular disease incidence in patients who initiated renal replacement therapy in childhood; systematic review and analyses of two renal registries

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The incidence of starting renal replacement therapy (RRT) among young people (<20 years of age) in 2013 in Scotland was 7.7 per million (age-related) population. Little knowledge exists about cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs), long-term survival and cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes in patients who initiated RRT in childhood. The main source of routine data for these patients is available from the European Society of Paediatric Nephrology/European Renal Association- European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ESPN/ERA-EDTA) registry. In Scotland nationally comprehensive data on patients receiving RRT is available from the Scottish Renal Registry (SRR).

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The overall aim of the thesis is to review relevant literature and conduct retrospective cohort studies describing CVRF prevalence, all-cause mortality and incidence of CVD outcomes in patients who initiated RRT in childhood. ESPN/ERA-EDTA registry data were used to describe the prevalence of anaemia, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and BMI categories and their association with all-cause and CV mortality. SRR data were used to describe all-cause mortality and CVD incidence and their association with age at start of RRT, sex, primary renal disease (PRD), type of RRT and period of start of RRT.

METHODS: Systematic searches were performed to identify relevant literature. For the ESPN/ERA-EDTA analyses patients who started RRT between 0 and 20 years of age and who had CVRF data were included. Patients were followed from date of first CVRF measurement until the earliest of death, loss to follow-up, reaching 20 years of age or the end of follow-up (December 31st 2012). Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for mortality, comparing patients with and without each CVRF. For the SRR analyses, patients who started RRT under 18 years of age in the period from 1963 to 2013 were included in the analyses. To describe CVD incidence the SRR data were linked to national registers for death and CVD hospital admissions available from 1981 onwards. These analyses, therefore, included patients who started RRT between 1981 and 2013 with follow-up until first CVD event after start of RRT, end of follow-up period or censoring at death. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association of age at initiation of RRT, sex, PRD, type of RRT and period of initiation of RRT with all-cause mortality and CVD incidence.

RESULTS: The systematic reviews revealed a gap in current knowledge about CVD incidence and the association of CVRFs with CVD outcomes in patients who initiated RRT in childhood. In total, 7,845 patients were included in the ESPN/ERA-EDTA registry analysis. The mean age of the patients was 9.5 (SE 0.06) years, 58.9% were male, and the most common PRD was congenital anomalies of kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT). The prevalence of dyslipidaemia, hypertension, anaemia overweight/obesity and underweight was 87.5%, 79.3%, 36.0%, 29.9% and 4.3%, respectively. During median follow-up of 3.7 (IQR 1.7-6.8) years 357 patients died. HRs for anaemia were 2.19 (95% CI 1.64-2.93) and 2.55 (95% CI 1.27-5.12) for all-cause and CVD mortality, respectively. The HR for all-cause mortality for underweight was 1.81 (95% CI 1.30-2.53). No other studied CVRFs were statistically significantly associated with all-cause and CVD mortality.

In total, 479 patients were included in the SRR analyses of all-cause mortality. The most common PRD was CAKUT and 55.3% of patients were male. During a median follow-up of 18.3 (IQR 8.7-27.0 years) years 126 patients died. Twenty-year survival among patients initiated RRT in childhood was 77.6% (95% CI 73.8-81.3). Age at start of RRT, PRD and type of RRT were significantly associated with all-cause mortality. HR for all-cause mortality for patients who started RRT under 2 years of age was 2.50 (95% CI 1.19-5.25) compared to patients who started RRT at 12 to 18 years old. HR for all-cause mortality for patients with PRD other than CAKUT or glomerulonephritis (GN) was 1.58 (95% CI 1.05-2.39) compared to patients with CAKUT. HRs for all-cause mortality for patients who only received either HD or PD during follow-up were 19.4 (95% CI 10.4-36.4 and 19.5 (9.65-39.7), respectively, compared to patients who received a renal transplant.

In total, 381 patients were included in the SRR analyses of CVD incidence. During a median of 12.9 (IQR 5.6-21.5) years of follow-up after initiation of RRT 134 patients (35.2%) developed CVD. The overall crude CVD incidence was 2.6 (95% CI 2.2-3.0) per 100 person-years. HRs for CVD were 1.69 (95% CI 1.05-2.74) for males compared to females, 1.72 (95% CI 1.02-2.91) for PRD other than CAKUT or GN compared to CAKUT and 8.38 (95% CI 3.31-21.23) and 7.30 (95% CI 2.30-23.16) for patients who only received either HD or PD during follow-up, respectively, compared to patients who received a renal transplant.

CONCLUSIONS: This thesis has contributed to knowledge about CVRF prevalence, longer-term survival and CVD outcomes in patients who initiated RRT in childhood by identifying high prevalence of CVRFs and that CVD is a common complication. This study did not investigate whether anaemia, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and obesity are associated with a higher risk of developing CVD after start of RRT. Future research is needed to study whether treatment of anaemia, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and controlling body weight will reduce the risk of CVD and mortality in patients who initiated RRT in childhood.