The prevalence of the left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is very high in end-stage renal disease treated by hemodialysis. Diastolic dysfunction is a frequent consequence and leads to the development of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. New American/European echocardiographic guidelines for the assessment of diastolic function simplified the evaluation and were published recently. The aim of this study was to reveal if the new guidelines stratify asymptomatic hemodialysis patients by the levels of brain-natriuretic peptide (BNP). A cohort of 46 patients hemodialyzed in one center with the lack of overt heart failure, systolic dysfunction, arrhythmia or significant valvular disease were examined by echocardiography before and after a single hemodialysis and blood samples for BNP analysis were drawn at both occasions. The LVH was present in 53% of patients, concentric remodeling in another 17%. Higher indexed left ventricular mass was related to higher BNP levels (r = 0.58, p = 0.0001). Before hemodialysis, diastolic dysfunction was present in 61%: grade 1 in 25%, grade 2 in 21% and grade 3 in 8%. The higher grade of diastolic dysfunction was associated with the incremental increase of BNP. The post-dialysis echocardiography did not allow the assessment of diastolic function in as many as 37% of patients. Our study has shown that the application of the current guidelines for the assessment of diastolic function based on simple four criteria differentiate hemodialysis symptomless patients with preserved systolic function according to BNP levels. BNP levels also rose together with the left ventricular mass. The ratio E/e' medial seemed to be a better predictor of increased BNP than E/e' lateral or E/e' averaged.

• Keywords
• Chronic kidney disease, Diastolic dysfunction, Echocardiography, Heart failure, Hemodialysis,
• MeSH
• Asymptomatic Diseases MeSH
• Biomarkers blood   MeSH
• Time Factors MeSH
• Kidney Failure, Chronic complications   diagnosis   physiopathology   therapy   MeSH
• Renal Dialysis * adverse effects   MeSH
• Diastole MeSH
• Echocardiography, Doppler * MeSH
• Ventricular Dysfunction, Left diagnostic imaging   etiology   physiopathology   MeSH
• Ventricular Function, Left * MeSH
• Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular diagnostic imaging   etiology   physiopathology   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Natriuretic Peptide, Brain blood   MeSH
• Predictive Value of Tests MeSH
• Ventricular Remodeling MeSH
• Risk Factors MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Stroke Volume MeSH
• Treatment Outcome MeSH
• Check Tag
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Biomarkers MeSH
• Natriuretic Peptide, Brain MeSH