Impact of Arterial Stiffness and Central Aortic Blood Pressure on Kidney Transplant Outcomes

Plain-language summary

People with CKD have higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease. The mechanism behind this increased risk is complex but there is strong evidence that changes in arterial stiffness play a central role. Arterial stiffness as measured by aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) and augmentation index (AIx), is a surrogate marker of cardiovascular organ damage, and is significantly associated with the future risk of clinical events. In addition, aPWV is an independent and powerful predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients on dialysis. Reduction of aPWV, mainly by use of an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitor results in an improved survival in dialysis patients. These findings suggest that arterial stiffness is not merely a marker of arterial damage but a potentially reversible factor contributing to mortality in dialysis patients. There is strong evidence that arterial stiffness increases as glomerular filtration rate (GFR) falls. Conversely, arterial stiffness has also been established in a number of studies as a significant risk factor for CKD progression. In addition to arterial stiffness, elevated central aortic blood pressure and central pulse pressure have been shown to increase the risk of progression of CKD to ESRD. Central blood pressure is more strongly related than standard BP measured at the brachial arteries (brachial blood pressure) to concentric left ventricular hypertrophy and carotid artery hypertrophy as well as to future cardiovascular events. Cardiovascular disease remains the foremost cause of death post-kidney transplant. Although, successful kidney transplant has been shown to improve arterial stiffness post-transplant, we do not know to what extent the pre-transplant arterial stiffness and central aortic blood pressure and their improvement post-transplant impact the cardiovascular and allograft outcomes. In addition, it is unclear what transplant related factors are associated with improvement in arterial stiffness and central aortic blood pressure post-transplant. The goals of our study are: 1. To determine if pre-transplant central blood pressure and aortic stiffness impact post-transplant cardiovascular and kidney allograft outcomes. 2. To determine whether the changes in central blood pressure and aortic stiffness post-transplant impact cardiovascular and kidney allograft outcomes. 3. To determine the factors associated with improved central aortic blood pressure and arterial stiffness post-transplant.

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