Analysis of cardiovascular risk factors in chronic hemodialysis patients with special attention to the hyperlipoproteinemias.

A group of 252 chronic hemodialysis patients was examined for various risk factors. Special emphasis was placed upon the comparison of patients who had marked cardiovascular alterations with the remainder of the group. The seriousness of the risk factors was determine by hypertension and hyperlipoproteinemia, 78% of the patients received antihypertensive medication or had changes in the fundus of the eye or both. In 74% of the patients there were pathological changes in the plasma lipids or lipoproteins or both. Hypertriglyceridemia (49%) and a HDL cholesterol decrease (61%) were the most striking findings. The average VLDL cholesterol value was significantly higher and the HDL cholesterol significantly lower in the coronary heart disease group than in the remaining group. These results show that hyperlipoproteinemia and a decrease in HDL, together with other risk factors such as hypertension and anemia, play an important role in the accelerated development of atherosclerosis in a hemodialysis group.