Adults with primary glomerular disease have high cardiovascular risk, study shows

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jun 1 2022

Among almost 2,000 adults with primary glomerular disease followed for a median of 6.8 years, risk of cardiovascular events including coronary artery, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular events, and death due to myocardial infarction or stroke was 2.5-fold higher compared to the general population.

Patients with chronic kidney disease are known to be at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular risk in patients with primary glomerular diseases is poorly understood because these conditions are rare and require a kidney biopsy for diagnosis. In this study published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD), the rate of cardiovascular events in 1,912 Canadian patients with biopsy-proven IgA nephropathy, minimal change disease, FSGS, and membranous nephropathy was 2.5 times as high as the general population and was high for each disease type.

Consideration of disease type, kidney function, and proteinuria improved the prediction of cardiovascular events. In summary, this population-level study showed that patients with primary glomerular diseases have a high cardiovascular risk, and that inclusion of kidney-specific risk factors may improve risk stratification.