Impact of left ventricular hypertrophy on clinical outcomes in patients with dialysis: a single-center study in Japan

Purpose Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a well-known risk factor for poor clinical outcomes in patients undergoing dialysis. However, little evidence supports the above notion in Japan, and the influence of subtypes of LVH on prognosis. Methods We investigated 367 patients undergoing dialysis who underwent routine echocardiographic examinations between April and September 2018. LVH was defined as any LV mass ≥ 115 g/m 2 in men and ≥ 95 g/m 2 in women obtained by echocardiography. The primary endpoint was a composite outcome including all-cause death, admission due to heart failure, and ischemic heart event or stroke. LVH was divided into subtype-groups according to eccentric hypertrophy or concentric hypertrophy, and with and without hypertension. Results LVH was observed in 171 (47%) patients. The primary endpoint was observed in 58 patients (16%) during the median follow-up period of 500 days. Multivariable Cox regression analyses identified four independent risk factors for the primary endpoint: age, pulse rate, serum albumin level, and LV mass index (per 10-g/m 2 increase; hazard ratio: 1.12, 95% confidence interval: 1.06–1.18, P < 0.001). Kaplan–Meier analyses demonstrated that patients with LVH had a worse prognosis than those without LVH in terms of the primary endpoint (log-rank P < 0.001). The incidence of the primary outcome was not significantly different between patients with eccentric or concentric hypertrophy, and between LVH patients with and without hypertension. Conclusion Japanese patients with LVH undergoing dialysis had a worse prognosis than those without LVH in terms of the composite clinical endpoint.