Osteoporosis is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), according to researchers in Taiwan.
Chia-Hung Kao, MD, of China Medical University Hospital in Taichung, and colleagues studied 12,535 patients with ESRD undergoing incident dialysis. Of these, 4,153 (33%) had osteoporosis. After adjusting for gender, age, related comorbidities, patients with osteoporosis had a significant 32%, 26%, 13%, and 7% increased risk of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, and mortality, respectively, compared with subjects who did not have osteoporosis, the investigators reported online in Osteoporosis International.
“When encountering patients with ESRD and osteoporosis, physicians should be alert to the cardiovascular risk factors in incident dialysis patients to prevent the subsequent occurrence of these adverse events,” the authors concluded.
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The researchers explained that bone and blood vessels may share common pathophysiological pathways and interact with each other. “Eventually, bone and vascular disorders result in bone and vascular disease such as osteoporosis and vascular calcification,” they wrote. “Osteoporosis can also be considered to be a sign of compromised circulation with attenuated perfusion caused by arterial ischemia within the bone in patients with atherosclerosis.”
