Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cirit, M.
Right arrow Articles by Mees, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Cirit, M.
Right arrow Articles by Mees, E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, Vol 13, Issue 2 387-390, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Disappearance of mitral and tricuspid regurgitation in haemodialysis patients after ultrafiltration

M Cirit, M Ozkahya, C Cinar, E Ok, S Aydin, F Akcicek and E Mees
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Department of Cardiology, Ege University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey; Corresponding author address: Ege Universitesi Lojmanlari, A712, Bornova, Izmir 35050, Turkey

Background. Doppler echocardiography has recently revealed frequent occurrence of valvular (in particular mitral) regurgitation in dialysis (HD) patients. We hypothesized that this may be in part `functional' and related to the cardiac dilatation which is also frequently present. Thus it would be possible to improve it by ultrafiltration. Methods. Mitral and tricuspid regurgitation was detected in 21 haemodialysis patients who had cardiomegaly but no manifest cardiac failure. They were treated by intensified ultrafiltration sessions, as much as they could tolerate, while all antihypertensive drugs were stopped. Doppler echocardiograms were then repeated. Results. Mitral regurgitation disappeared in 13 and tricuspid regurgitation in 14 patients, while lesser degrees of either of them persisted in seven. This was accompanied by decreases of body weight (5.4±2.7 kg) mean arterial pressure (125±15 to 95±11 mmHg), cardiothoracic index (from 0.57 to 0.47), and left atrial (28±4 to 22±3 mm/m2), left ventricular systolic (25±5 to 21±55 mm/m2) and left ventricular diastolic (31±5 to 27±5 mm/m2), and mitral annular diameters (19.4±2 to 16.6±2 mm/m2). Ejection fraction increased but remained below 50% in 11 patients. Conclusion. Most of the mitral and tricuspid regurgitations seen in HD patients are partly or completely functional, due to dilatation of the mitral annulus which is related to volume overload. A more aggressive approach, while discontinuing antihypertensive drugs can correct or improve many of them and also ameliorate cardiac function. Keywords: cardiac dilatation; haemodialysis; mitral regurgitation; tricuspid regurgitation; ultrafiltration
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.