DENVER— Lower concentrations of calcium in dialysis fluids may be linked to an increased risk of suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest, according to a study presented Nov. 18 at the American Society for Nephrology’s annual meeting.
Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death among kidney disease patients on dialysis, according to the study. Because hardening of the blood vessels due to calcium deposits has been linked to increased cardiovascular deaths in dialysis patients, national guidelines recommend lowering the amount of calcium that patients receive from dialysis fluids. (Dialysis solution contains levels of minerals like potassium and calcium similar to their natural concentration in healthy blood.)
Patrick Pun, MD, MHS (Duke University) and his colleagues found that lower concentrations of calcium in dialysis fluids may be linked to an increased risk of suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest. They compared the calcium concentrations in the dialysis fluids of 502 dialysis patients who experienced sudden cardiac arrest with 1,632 randomly selected dialysis patients who did not. The findings may help clinicians determine the optimal calcium concentration to include in dialysis solutions.
