Infections and cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Although interest in the nexus of cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease (CKD) has mushroomed, especially in the in past 5 years, activity in the arena of CKD-related infection has been much more modest. This development is surprising when one considers the increasing evidence that links inflammation, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease. Also, major infections, such as pneumonia and septicemia, are paradigmatic inflammatory states, and accumulating evidence indicates that they are a common antecedent of new cardiovascular events in dialysis patients. Major infections are associated with higher rates of cardiovascular events and death in dialysis patients, and similar associations have been observed in community settings. Although recent studies suggest that hospitalization for major infections is much more common in nondialysis CKD than in the general population, the prognostic implications remain unexplored.