16 (95% CI: 1.14–1.18). The 5-year cumulative incidence of non-fatal myocardial infarction was 8.1% and 6.0% and cardiac death was 48.3% and 40.2%, in patients with and without prior CAD, respectively. The degree of clinical severity of each comorbid condition may also impact on patient survival; however, minimal published data are available pertaining to this issue. This could be important since new haemodialysis patients with ischaemic heart disease and class I heart disease would

be equally weighted with patients with class IV disease. In a study by Varghese et al.,19 the clinical and angiographic findings in 158 consecutive patients (84 diabetic and 74 non-diabetic patients) with ESKD were evaluated. Only patients who were already on a maintenance dialysis programme or were being considered for transplantation were included so this was not a true STAT inhibitor incident population. Coronary angiography was indicated either because of ischaemic HM781-36B datasheet chest pain or as part of a routine pre-transplant evaluation. Diabetic patients had more adverse risk factors for CAD yet there was no significant difference in the prevalence of CAD between the diabetic and non-diabetic patients (67% vs 55%, P = 0.15), but triple vessel disease was significantly more common in diabetic patients (27% vs 12%, P = 0.005). The prognostic or functional significance of this finding has not been further

evaluated. In a small study by Joki et al.,20 the authors performed coronary angiography in patients with or without angina within 1 month of initiation of dialysis. These investigators found that within 2 years of initiation of dialysis, the survival rate in patients with CAD was 60.0% compared Loperamide with 100.0% in patients without CAD, implying that CAD plays a significant role in the short-term survival of

diabetic haemodialysis patients. Adequately powered prospective interventional studies that attempt to reduce cardiovascular risk factors are limited in dialysis patients and the ones that have been conducted, such as the 4D,21 AURORA,22 CHOIR23 and CREATE studies, have failed to show a survival benefit. An excellent review of the role of statins in dialysis patients was recently conducted by Navaneethan et al.24 and ongoing adequately powered studies such as the SHARP study25 should provide more insights into the efficacy of statins in reducing mortality rates in dialysis patients. Furthermore, the potential mechanisms underlying the deleterious outcomes associated with efforts to correct renal anaemia remain unproven, and the CHOIR and CREATE studies highlight the potential adverse effects of exposure to high doses of erythropoeitic stimulating agents. The question also arises whether adequate risk factor intervention exists in this population. Dialysis patients may have different needs than patients with CVD and no renal impairment. Herzog et al.