Aussie study illuminates the huge cardiac risk that follows kidney failure
Researchers warn that heart surgery is likely to rise because of comorbidities.
Patients with kidney failure and comorbid insulin-treated diabetes are 65 times more likely than adults in the general population to need major cardiac surgery, research shows.
The first population-based Australian study of its kind has quantified the huge excess cardiac risk faced by patients being treated for kidney failure, especially those with diabetes.
The study found patients on dialysis had nine times the average risk of heart surgery and the risk was doubled for those living with a transplanted kidney.
Add comorbid insulin-treated diabetes to the picture and a patient faced a massive 65-fold higher relative risk of needing surgery such as CABG or mitral valve replacement compared with the general population, the 10-year study showed.
