Shuang Wang1, Fang Wei1, Haiyan Chen1, Zhe Wang1, Ruining Zhang1, Aili Jiang2. 1. Department of Kidney Disease and Blood Purification, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China. 2. Department of Kidney Disease and Blood Purification, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China, carlos_j@126.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Much controversy remains in the literature with respect to whether soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) can serve to predict all-cause death in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). This meta-analysis therefore sought to analyze extant datasets exploring the association between these 2 variables in MHD patients in order to draw relevant conclusions. METHODS: Articles published through December 2018 in PubMed and Embase were independently reviewed by 2 authors to identify relevant articles, and STATA 12.0 was used for statistical analyses of relevant results and study parameters. RESULTS: In total, we identified 4 relevant studies that were incorporated into this meta-analysis. These studies included a total of 1,924 participants (60% male, mean follow-up 911 days). The combined study results suggested that increased levels of sST2 were significantly linked to a 2.23 fold rise in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 2.23, 95% CI 1.81-2.75). Subgroup analyses confirmed that this same association was true in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HR 2.17, 95% CI 1.74-2.71), which indicated that the increased levels of sST2 were significantly linked to a 2.17 fold rise in all-cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis suggests that there is a significant link between elevated levels of sST2 and death in patients undergoing MHD. Further large-scale trials, however, will be needed to fully validate these findings and their clinical relevance.
BACKGROUND: Much controversy remains in the literature with respect to whether soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) can serve to predict all-cause death in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). This meta-analysis therefore sought to analyze extant datasets exploring the association between these 2 variables in MHD patients in order to draw relevant conclusions. METHODS: Articles published through December 2018 in PubMed and Embase were independently reviewed by 2 authors to identify relevant articles, and STATA 12.0 was used for statistical analyses of relevant results and study parameters. RESULTS: In total, we identified 4 relevant studies that were incorporated into this meta-analysis. These studies included a total of 1,924 participants (60% male, mean follow-up 911 days). The combined study results suggested that increased levels of sST2 were significantly linked to a 2.23 fold rise in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 2.23, 95% CI 1.81-2.75). Subgroup analyses confirmed that this same association was true in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HR 2.17, 95% CI 1.74-2.71), which indicated that the increased levels of sST2 were significantly linked to a 2.17 fold rise in all-cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis suggests that there is a significant link between elevated levels of sST2 and death in patients undergoing MHD. Further large-scale trials, however, will be needed to fully validate these findings and their clinical relevance.