Association between glycated albumin and sudden death in patients undergoing hemodialysis

Background The frequency of sudden death and its risk factors in patients undergoing hemodialysis are unknown. This study was performed to examine the association between glycated albumin (GA) and sudden death in Japanese patients undergoing hemodialysis. Methods In total, 260 patients undergoing hemodialysis aged ≥18 years were retrospectively followed for a mean of 4.6 years. The patients’ serum GA levels were divided into tertiles, and the patients’ sex, age, albumin level, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, and cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) were selected as adjustment factors. A logistic regression model was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) for the occurrence of sudden death by GA level. Results Ninety-one patients died during follow-up. Of the 91 deaths, 23 (25.2%) were defined as sudden deaths. Compared with non-sudden death cases, sudden death cases were significantly younger ( p = 0.002) and had a higher proportion of men ( p = 0.03), a higher proportion of diabetes ( p = 0.008), and higher GA levels ( p = 0.023). Compared with patients with the lowest GA levels (