BACKGROUND: Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) have a high risk of developing cardiovascular events. There is a high prevalence of PAD in individuals with kidney disease and both are important risk factors for cardiovascular events. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between PAD and renal function in hypertensive patients. METHODS: The sample consisted of 909 individuals with arterial hypertension. The presence of PAD was evaluated using the ankle-brachial index (ABI) method and renal function was assessed based on the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The subjects were divided into groups, according to abnormal (ABI < 0.9) and normal ABI (ABI 0.9-1.4). RESULTS: The percentage of subjects with abnormal ABI was 8%. In the group of individuals with abnormal ABI, prevalence of CKD was 23.4%, compared to a prevalence of 11.2% in patients with normal ABI. Multivariable logistic regression analysis, after adjusting the model to the conventional cardiovascular risk factors, identified a statistically significant and independent effect of eGFR on the likelihood of developing PAD, with an OR of 0.987 (CI: 0.97-1.00). CONCLUSION: An independent association between PAD and chronic kidney disease was observed in the present study. Therefore, the combination of an accurate diagnosis of kidney disease and routine ABI evaluation could constitute a more efficient means to identify subclinical PAD, allowing individuals to benefit from early interventions, aiming at reducing cardiovascular risk.
Peripheral Arterial Disease; Hypertension; Kidney Diseases
