Cardiovascular Events and Investigation in Patients Who Are Awaiting Cadaveric Kidney Transplantation

The optimal strategy for cardiovascular (CV) disease surveillance in kidney transplant candidates is uncertain. In this observational study of 604 wait-listed patients in British Columbia, the risk for CV event in diabetic and nondiabetic candidates was 12.7 and 4.5% per year, respectively. CV event rates were relatively constant during the first 3 yr of wait-listing (5.3 to 6.6 per 100 patient-years; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.7 to 9.3) but rose dramatically during the peritransplantation period (39.6/100 patient-years; 95% CI, 20.6 to 76.1) and remained high throughout the first posttransplantation year (4.0 per 100 patient-years; 95% CI, 2.2 to 7.5). The results of noninvasive cardiac investigations before wait-listing were not predictive of the time to CV event after wait-listing. The practice of surveillance cardiac investigation in wait-listed patients on the basis of ongoing clinical assessment of cardiac risk resulted in fewer investigations (n = 171) than with the recommended practice of periodic screening on the basis of waiting time alone (n = 530) and was not associated with an increased frequency of CV events (CV event rate in patients with and without the recommended frequency of investigation was 9.9 [95% CI, 7.1 to 13.7] and 6.7 [95% CI, 5.2 to 8.7] per 100 patient-years). It is concluded that transplant candidates are at high risk for CV events particularly during the perioperative period. Initial cardiac investigations have limited value in guiding the timing of patient reevaluation after wait-listing. Periodic surveillance cardiac investigation after wait-listing may be unnecessary and requires further study.