Cerebrovascular Function is Altered in Hemodialysis Patients.

KEY POINTS

Hemodialysis patients have impaired cerebrovascular reactivity. Hemodialysis patients have cerebral structural deficits.

BACKGROUND

Hemodialysis patients have declines in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral oxygenation during hemodialysis that may lead to ischemic brain injury. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) may indicate which individuals are more susceptible to intradialytic hypoperfusion and ischemia. We hypothesized that hemodialysis patients would have decreased CVR and increased CBF relative to controls and deficits in CVR would be related to brain structural deficits.

METHODS

We measured cortical thickness and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume from T1 and T2 fluid attenuation inversion recovery images, respectively; CVR from a breath hold blood oxygen level–dependent CVR functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); and arterial transit time and CBF from arterial spin labeling. Cerebrovascular and structural deficits in gray matter and white matter (GM and WM) were tested by averaging across the tissue and with a pothole analysis. Finally, we correlated cortical thickness and WMH volume with GM and WM cerebrovascular variables to assess the relationship between brain structure and cerebrovascular health.

RESULTS

In ten hemodialysis patients, cortical thickness was found to be decreased ( = 0.002), WMH volume increased ( = 0.004), and WM CBF increased ( = 0.02) relative to ten controls. Pothole analysis indicated a higher number of increased GM and WM CBF voxels ( = 0.03, = 0.02) and a higher number of decreased GM and WM CVR voxels ( = 0.02, = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

This pilot study demonstrates that hemodialysis patients have decreased CVR and increased CBF relative to controls, along with reduced brain integrity. Further investigation is required to fully understand whether these cerebrovascular deficits may lead to structural changes.