Calcifications are increased in chronic hemodialysis and associated with increased cardiovascular events.The nutritional status may influence, via the metabulism Ca/P, the outcome of the patients.We aimed to study the relations between the nutritional status, calcification score and hospitalization in chronic hemodialysed subjects during a follow-up of 1 year.
Body composition was evaluated with Bioimpedance spectroscopy technique (Fresenius BCM) and hospitalization was collected during follow-up; abdominal aortic calcifictions (Kauppila score) were evaluated by lateral lumbar radiographs at baseline and after 1 year.
36 hemodialysed subjects (age 64±15 yrs; 50% males; hemoglobin 11.3±0.7 mg/dl; Kt/Veq Daugirdas 1.50±0.29) were enroled.20 subjects (56%) were hospitalized during follow-up.Nutritional status (lean tessue index [LTI], positively; fat tissue index[FTI], negatively)was associated with the increase in Kauppila score during follow-up (Δ score: 1.2±1.0 points/year) and with hospitalizations, suggesting that subjects with poorest nutritional status are at risk of calcification and poor outcome. In multivariate analysis adjusted for age, FTI was associated with Hospitalization (OR: 0.83; 95%CI 0.70-0.99;P<0.05). Adding the variation in Kauppila score during follow-up in a model with age and FTI produce the lost of significance of the association between FTI and hospitalization, suggesting that the effect of nutritional status on hospitalization is at least in part mediated by an increase in calcifications (Fig. 1).
Nutritional status influences the development of calcifications and hospitalizations.
