Abstract
BACKGROUND: Left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony is associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease. Our aim was to determine the associations of LV dynamic dyssynchrony with peritoneal solute clearance in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. Our primary objective was to determine the association between dynamic LV dyssynchrony and CAPD clearance at 2 years. Secondary objectives were to identify the factors influencing dynamic dyssynchrony, and to examine the association between dialysis adequacy and echocardiography-assessed LV outcomes. METHODS: Fifty CAPD patients and 13 healthy volunteers underwent three-dimensional (3D) dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). The main endpoint was systolic dyssynchrony index (SDI). Secondary endpoints, including NT-proBNP, troponin I, Kt/V, and biochemical parameters, were measured before stress echocardiography, and Kt/V was measured again 2 years later. All values are expressed as medians and interquartile ranges (IQR). RESULTS: NT-proBNP (3872 [808-11779] vs. 4.99 [4.99-36.83] pg/mL, P < 0.001), and log NT-proBNP (3.587 [2.896-4.071] vs. 0.698 [0.698-1.540], P < 0.001) levels were significantly higher in the CAPD group than in the control group. Real-time 3D DSE showed that the systolic dyssynchrony index was significantly different between the two groups at the peak dobutamine stage (1.11% [0.76-1.64%] vs. 0.66% [0.50-1.02%], P = 0.004), but not at resting (1.30% [0.89-1.74%] vs. 1.22 % [0.72-1.68%], P = 0.358).The subgroup of patients in the CAPD group with greater improvements in dialysis adequacy had lower baseline dynamic SDI and more favorable echocardiographic findings at 2 years. Dialysis adequacy decreased significantly at 2 year in patients with higher, but not in those with lower dynamic SDI at baseline. In multivariate linear regression analysis, log NT-proBNP and SDI at the peak dobutamine dose were significantly associated with Kt/V and weekly creatinine clearance at 2 years, while log NT-proBNP was significant associated with SDI at the peak dobutamine stage. Female CAPD patients group had more pronounced dynamic LV dyssynchrony compared with male patients. CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic systolic dyssynchrony was strongly associated with future dialysis adequacy in CAPD patients. Log NT-proBNP was the important predictor of dynamic dyssynchrony. Our study confirmed the concept that cardiac dysfunction has an impact on dialysis adequacy.