Kidney disease measures are associated with the burden of coronary atherosclerosis, independently of diabetes

Several lines of evidence suggest that increased urinary albumin excretion and reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR) are independently associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) and mortality in general population as well as in patients with diabetes [1]. It has been recently shown that albuminuria correlates with the presence and severity of coronary atherosclerosis [2] and predictsadverse cardiovascular outcome in patients with CAD. The aim of this work was to investigate the association between kidney disease measures, i.e. reduced GFR and albuminuria and coronary atherosclerotic burden in subjects undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).