Chronic Kidney Disease-Mineral Bone Disease (CKD-MBD) and Cardiac Arrest Risk Factors among Renal Failure Patients

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined as a disease characterized by alterations in either kidney structure or function or both for a minimum of 3 months duration. It can be caused by a variety of conditions and this introduces significant heterogeneity in terms of how patients with CKD may present to their clinicians. However, irrespective of the etiology of CKD, patients with mild CKD are mostly asymptomatic and symptoms are generally related to CKD complications that are observed in the late stages. The major complications related to CKD include cardiovascular disease, anemia, infectious complications, neuropathy and abnormalities related to mineral bone metabolism. Disturbance in mineral and bone metabolism accompanied by soft tissue and vascular calcification is one of the most common and important consequences of CKD development and progression [1]. CKD is characterized by increased cardiovascular risk partly due to increased prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus and also due to direct increased cardiovascular risk from non-traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as anemia, malnutrition inflammation syndrome, retention of uremic toxins and chronic kidney disease–mineral bone disease (CKD-MBD) [2]. CKD patients are also at high risk to develop end stage renal disease (ESRD) and risks for all-cause as well as cardiovascular mortality is even higher for ESRD compared with CKD patients [3].