Kidney Function

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Patients with CKD not only have a high prevalence of traditional CVD risk factors, but also are exposed to other nontraditional uremia-related CVD risk factors. In this Core Curriculum, we describe the epidemiologic characteristics and pathophysiologic process of CVD in patients with CKD and focus on several CVD risk factors. We then discuss manifestations and presentations of CVD in patients with CKD and review diagnostic and therapeutic options. As described next, many recommendations in CKD are based on extrapolation of data from the general population. However, we emphasize several of the important published trials on CVD in CKD (). We do not focus on CVD in kidney transplant recipients.