What Is the Meaning of Increased Myocardial Injury Enzymes during Hemodialysis? A Tissue Doppler Imaging Study

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular death is decreasing in the general population; however, it appears in still higher rates and even increases gradually in hemodialysis (HD) patients. This situation has led to a debate about cardiovascular adverse effects of HD which lead to significant changes in cardiac and hemodynamic events. It is known that troponins are often elevated in HD patients, and high levels of troponin are associated with increased mortality. Therefore, it is difficult to interpret the value of elevations in chronic kidney disease patients. Methods: Echocardiographic and biochemical parameters of 41 patients treated with HD were evaluated before and after a HD session. Results: HD led to an increased heart rate, and tissue Doppler imaging parameters such as early diastolic mitral peak velocity (E)/early diastolic myocardial peak velocity (e) and septal e decreased significantly after HD. HD caused an increase in troponin I, myoglobin and cardiac creatine kinase (CK MB) levels (p = 0.019, p < 0.001 and p = 0.018, respectively). A decrease in the left ventricular peak systolic myocardial (LV S') velocity (p = 0.011) was detected in patients with increased levels of cardiac damage markers (group 2) compared to those without increased levels of cardiac damage markers (group 1) in HD. Conclusion: A decrease in LV S' velocity was found to be an independent predictor of an increase of myocardial injury enzymes in HD (odds ratio = 1.099; p = 0.039). We concluded that HD may lead to significant acute stress upon the myocardium. Copyright (c) 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel