[Mitral ring calcification in dialysis patients. Echocardiographic diagnosis and etiological factors].

Echocardiography for assessment of presence of mitral ring calcification was performed in 96 dialysis patients. The control group consisted of 1758 consecutive patients without renal disease. For the first time it was shown that dialysis patients with mitral ring calcification (group I) had aortic valve sclerosis, renal osteopathy and peripheral angiopathy more frequently than dialysis patients without mitral ring calcification (group II). There were no significant differences between both groups for calcium, phosphate, calcium-phosphate product, magnesium, parathormone and lipids. There were equal numbers of hypertensive patients in both groups. In comparison to patients without renal disease dialysis patients had calcifications of the mitral ring more frequently (P less than or equal to 0.001) an at an earlier age.