Heart fat risk marker in kidney disease patients

An international cardiac research led by a Canadian scientist showed fat deposits around the heart -- which can be spotted through simple CT scans -- can help predict the risk of death in patients with chronic kidney disease. The study, published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, was conducted by scientists from Canada, Venezuela, Italy and the United States. "We wanted to know if this type of heart fat is related to poor outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease, and it was a very clear marker of risk," said Paolo Raggi, a researcher from the University of Alberta. "The greater the amount of fat around the heart, the greater the mortality rates were in patients." After examining CT scan of 109 US patients with chronic kidney disease from a randomized, clinical trial, the researchers found that for every 10 cubic centimetre increase in heart fat, the risk of death rose 6 percent. They found patients with higher than average amounts of heart fat had five-year survival rates of about 45 percent -- markedly lower than the 71 percent survival rate for patients with lower than average amounts of heart fat. The findings also showed that high levels of calcium or plaque in the arteries and high cholesterol levels were strong predictors of large volumes of heart fat. Previous research has shown a link between this heart fat and plaque buildup in the heart arteries, according to the researchers. The researchers noted that patients with chronic kidney disease do not usually receive CT heart scans, and recommended that clinical practice include CT scans for these patients in the future, with notes made on the test results about the amount of heart fat found.