Correlation of carotid intimal-medial thickness with estimated glomerular filtration rate and cardiovascular risk factors in chronic kidney disease.

Carotid intimal-medial thickness (CIMT) predicts future vascular events in the general population. However, the correlation of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) with CIMT is not studied extensively. To determine the correlation of CIMT with traditional cardiovascular risk factors like age, body mass index (BMI), dyslipidemia and various stages of CKD patients, CIMT was measured by means of high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography in 70 CKD patients and compared with the 30 healthy controls. The mean CIMT in patients was 0.86 ± 0.21 mm vs 0.63 ± 0.17 mm in healthy age- and sex-matched controls (P <0.001). There was a significant univariate positive correlation between CIMT and age (r = 0.605, P <0.001), BMI (r = 0.377, P = 0.001), total cholesterol (r = 0.236, P ≤0.018) and serum triglyceride (r = 0.387, P ≤0.001). No statistically significant correlation was found between mean CIMT and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (r = -0.02, P = 0.30), very low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Atherosclerotic changes very well correlate with the traditional cardiovascular risk factors like age, BMI, serum total cholesterol and serum triglyceride level in CKD patients. Even though CIMT was marginally more in the late stages of CKD patients, no statistically significant correlation was found with CIMT and eGFR.