CKD Linked with Vulnerable Coronary Artery Plaques in the Elderly.

Elderly people with an eGFR less than 30 mL/min/1.73 m² were 6.2 times more likely to have intraplaque hemorrhages in their coronary arteries than those with an eGFR of 60 mL/min/1.73 m² or higher. A lower eGFR was also associated with increased numbers of newly formed blood vessels. Because areas of oxidized low-density lipoprotein and vascular endothelial growth factor expression increased significantly with decreasing eGFR, these factors may play a role in the vulnerability of coronary artery plaques in elderly CKD patients. The findings – which come from a study of 126 randomly selected subjects from 844 autopsies – are published in Kidney International.