Abdominal Aortic Calcification Screening in Peritoneal Dialysis: How should we implement it? - BMC Series blog

Abdominal Aortic Calcification Screening in Peritoneal Dialysis: How should we implement it? - BMC Series blog

Daphne Knicely

Dr. Daphne Harrington Knicely is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Daphne is committed to medical education with involvement in multiple teaching programs at Johns Hopkins. Daphne has a special interest in patient education and outcomes and is the co-director of patient education within the Division of Nephrology at Johns Hopkins. She helped establish the Johns Hopkins Nephrology Patient Education Program and is dedicated to improving kidney disease awareness. Daphne is a member of several committees for the National Kidney Foundation serving Maryland and Delaware and has special expertise in diabetic kidney disease, solitary kidney, and renal replacement therapy. Dr. Knicely joined the BMC Nephrology editorial board in October 2019 as a Blog Editor for the journal.

Abdominal Aortic Calcification Screening in Peritoneal Dialysis: How should we implement it?

This week in BMC Nephrology, Blog Editor Dr. Daphne Harrington Knicely looks at an article by Ma et al. which evaluates the prognostic value of the abdominal aortic calcification score (AACS) in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients and discusses how best to put into use the AACS in this patient group.

Daphne Knicely 6 May 2020

Cardiovascular mortality in end-stage kidney disease is much higher than the general population.  The non-traditional risk factor of mineral bone disorders in this population plays an important role in the higher incidence of vascular calcification associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and all‐cause mortality in this population.  Several studies in hemodialysis patients have shown the advantage of using plain radiography to determine abdominal aortic calcification and cardiovascular disease.  Cho et al. recently showed that abdominal aortic calcification score (AACS) is an independent risk factor for severe coronary artery calcification score on CT and predictor for cardiovascular disease in hemodialysis patients. Zhu et al. showed that abdominal aortic calcification is prevalent in hemodialysis patients and has the potential to predict cardiovascular mortality with use of plain radiography.  There have not been similar studies in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients