Early and late cardiovascular risk in renal transplant recipients — a literature review

Abstract

The main cause of death among patients with chronic kidney disease, including those on dialysis and after kidney transplantation is cardiovascular disease. Risk assessment and cardiovascular diagnosis of coronary heart disease before transplantation is difficult, however, carried out in a manner adapted to the individual patient’s condition can bring many benefits. The most important is to reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular and eliminating the need for coronary angiography in renal transplant patients, which may affect the transplanted kidney dysfunction. In the diagnosis of coronary heart disease is not a single non-invasive test, which clearly indicate a patient with high cardiovascular risk, which should be performed coronary angiography and possibly propose a treatment for revascularization. An appropriate diagnostic algorithm should be prepared to prevent the occurrence of cardiovascular events in early and late post-transplant period. It could bring a lot of important clinical and prognostic benefits for patients. The aim of the study is to present a practical approach to the assessment of cardiovascular system in future renal transplant recipients.