Cardiovascular disease in children with chronic kidney disease.

In children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality has not changed for the past 3 decades. Cardiac disease remains the second most common cause of death. Recent data demonstrate a high incidence and prevalence of traditional and chronic kidney disease (CKD)-related CVD risk factors in children. Early markers of cardiomyopathy, such as left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and left ventricular dysfunction (LV dysfunction), and early markers of atherosclerosis, such as increased carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and carotid arterial wall stiffness, are frequently found in this patient population. Early identification of modifiable risk factors and treatment of asymptomatic CVD might lead to decrease of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in young adults who developed CKD during childhood.