Cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in dialysis patients.

Dialysis patients constitute a high-risk group for cardiovascular disease, which accounts for 40% of deaths in these patients. After stratification for age, race and gender, cardiovascular mortality is several orders of magnitude (10-20 times) higher in dialysis patients than in the general population. A clustering of risk factors renders dialysis patients especially susceptible to cardiovascular disease. Their morbidity and mortality can be favorably altered by interventional measures which systematically address and modify each individual risk factor. It is necessary to institute intervention during the course of progressive renal failure, well before the onset of end-stage renal disease and the initiation of dialysis.