Vascular stiffness in end-stage kidney disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessment of arterial stiffness in patients with end-stage kidney disease using shear-wave elastography
IRAS ID
219181
Contact name
Mohammad Aslam
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
End-stage kidney disease affects approximately two million people worldwide. The most common cause of death in this population is attributed to cardiovascular disease. Vascular disease is associated with cardiovascular mortality. Furthermore, patients with end-stage kidney disease suffer from a number of vascular complications unique to this population. Apart from the traditional risk factors for vascular disease (age, gender, smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and diabetes mellitus), these patients are also exposed to other effects which may foster vascular pathology such as chronic metabolic acidosis, chronic inflammation, unmeasurable and/or potentially unknown toxins, secondary and tertiary hyperparathyroidsim, oxidative stress and reduced nitric oxide bioavailability. Intimal disease is well-recognised but medial calcification has also been studied in this population and is observed in younger patients without classical atherosclerosis. How rapidly these processes evolve in new dialysis patients is unknown.
It is increasingly appreciated that changes in the elasticity of blood vessels may be a marker for arterial dysfunction and pathology. Ultrasound systems can be used to determine the elastic properties of tissues. Current clinical applications include strain imaging in cardiovascular medicine and the hepatic fibroscan in gastroenterology. Shear-wave elastography can form a direct measurement of the stiffness of tissue by measuring the propagation speed of the insonated shear waves.
The aim of this study is to characterise the changes in arterial stiffness in patients who are commencing maintenance dialysis treatment (haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis) using shear-wave elastography scanning technology.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/WM/0124
Date of REC Opinion
29 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion