Prognostic Value of Exercise Capacity in Kidney Transplant Candidates.
Sean Tan; Yi Wen Thang; William R Mulley; Kevan R Polkinghorne; Satish Ramkumar; Kevin Cheng; Jasmine Chan; John Galligan; Mark Nolan; Adam J Brown; Stuart Moir; James D Cameron; Stephen J Nicholls; Philip M Mottram; Nitesh Nerlekar
Abstract
Background Exercise stress testing for cardiovascular assessment in kidney transplant candidates has been shown to be a feasible alternative to pharmacologic methods. Exercise stress testing allows the additional assessment of exercise capacity, which may have prognostic value for long-term cardiovascular outcomes in pre-transplant recipients. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of exercise capacity on long-term cardiovascular outcomes in kidney transplant candidates. Methods and Results We retrospectively evaluated exercise capacity in 898 consecutive kidney transplant candidates between 2013 and 2020 who underwent symptom-limited exercise stress echocardiography for pre-transplant cardiovascular assessment. Exercise capacity was measured by age- and sex-predicted metabolic equivalents (METs). The primary outcome was incident major adverse cardiovascular events, defined as cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and stroke. Cox proportional hazard multivariable modeling was performed to define major adverse cardiovascular events predictors with transplantation treated as a time-varying covariate. A total of 429 patients (48%) achieved predicted METs. During follow-up, 93 (10%) developed major adverse cardiovascular events and 525 (58%) underwent transplantation. Achievement of predicted METs was independently associated with reduced major adverse cardiovascular events (hazard ratio [HR] 0.49; [95% CI 0.29-0.82], =0.007), as was transplantation (HR, 0.52; [95% CI 0.30-0.91], =0.02). Patients achieving predicted METs on pre-transplant exercise stress echocardiography had favorable outcomes that were independent (HR, 0.78; [95% CI 0.32-1.92], =0.59) and of similar magnitude to subsequent transplantation (HR, 0.97; [95% CI 0.42-2.25], =0.95). Conclusions Achievement of predicted METs on pre-transplant exercise stress echocardiography confers excellent prognosis independent of and of similar magnitude to subsequent kidney transplantation. Future studies should assess the benefit on exercise training in this population.P
Journal | JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION |
ISSN | 2047-9980 |
Published | 21 Jun 2022 |
Volume | 11 |
Issue | 12 |
Pages | e025862 |
DOI | 10.1161/JAHA.121.025862 |
Type | Journal Article |
Sponsorship |