Can Aortic Elastic Parameters be Used for the Diagnosis of Volume Overload in Patients with End Stage Renal Disease

Background: We aimed here to investigate hydration status by echocardiography in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Methods: 25 ESRD patients [15 males; mean age: 54.0±16.6 years; 13 hemodialysis; 12 peritoneal dialysis] were considered eligible for this study. We also examined 29 healthy volunteers as a control group (17 males; mean age: 46.5±12.8 years). Body composition analysis using the bioimpedance spectroscopy technique was performed for volume overload diagnosis. The ratio of extracellular water (ECW) to height was used as volume indices. The aortic elastic parameters were calculated by echocardiography. A correlation analyses was performed between the ratio of ECW to height indicating the volume overload and the aortic elastic parameters e.g. Aortic strain (AS), Aortic distensibility (AD) and Aortic stiffness index (ASI). Results: The ratio of ECW to height that indicates volume overload in ESRD patients was considerably higher than that in the control group (10.25±1.98 L/m vs 8.66±1.22 L/m, p=0.001). There was a negative correlation between the ratio of ECW to height and AS and AD and a positive correlation between the ratio of ECW to height and ASI. Conclusion: Given the importance of the diagnosis and follow up of volume overload, the results show that aortic elasticity measurements, being easy to perform and replicate, can be used for this purpose.