ACC 2009 Survey Results and Recommendations: Addressing the Cardiology Workforce Crisis: A Report of the ACC Board of Trustees Workforce Task Force

Objectives tudy sought to determine the association of chronic kidney disease (CKD) with high ankle brachial index (ABI) measurement and to compare its strength with that of CKD with a low ABI. ound an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. A high ABI, a marker of lower extremity arterial stiffness, is associated with CVD events and mortality. The association between CKD and high ABI is unknown. s S (Cardiovascular Health Study) enrolled community-living people >65 years of age and measured kidney function and ABI. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was estimated using equations that incorporated either cystatin C or creatinine, and CKD was defined by estimated GFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m2. The ABI was categorized as low (<0.90), low-normal (0.90 to 1.09), normal (1.10 to 1.40), and high (>1.40 or incompressible). Multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate the associations of CKD with ABI categories. s 4,513 participants, 23% had CKD, 13% had a low ABI, and 3% had a high ABI. In models adjusted for age, sex, race, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, body mass index, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and C-reactive protein, cystatin C-based CKD was associated with both low ABI (relative risk [RR]: 2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6 to 2.5; p <0.001) and high ABI (RR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.0 to 2.3; p = 0.03). Results were similar when CKD was defined by creatinine. sions associated with both the high and the low extremes of ABI in community-living older people. Future studies should evaluate whether arterial stiffness is an important mechanism leading to CVD in people with CKD.