What is vascular calcification in the kidneys?
Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and vascular calcification is one of the strongest predictors of cardiovascular risk. Vascular calcification is a process characterized by thickening and loss of elasticity of muscular arteries walls [1].
What are the symptoms of vascular calcification?
If vascular calcification causes arteries to harden, the heart will have to work harder to pump blood. Eventually, you might develop symptoms of peripheral artery disease (PAD) or stroke. The most common PAD symptom is pain or cramping in your leg muscles when walking or climbing stairs.
Does kidney failure cause calcification?
Patients with chronic kidney disease are at risk for vascular calcification because of multiple risk factors that induce vascular smooth muscle cells to change into a chondrocyte or osteoblast-like cell; high total body burden of calcium and phosphorus due to abnormal bone metabolism; low levels of circulating and …
What is vascular atherosclerotic calcifications?
Vascular Calcification. VC is the pathological deposition of calcium in vascular structures and is a significant area of study because it commonly affects our aging population and those experiencing diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, heart valve disease, and end‐stage renal disease.
How serious is kidney calcification?
If calcium deposits form, the medical names for this is “calcification.” Calcification can occur with age, but it can also be linked with infections, injuries, and cancer. In addition, it can be dangerous for too much calcium to build up in the arteries, kidneys, or pericardium, the membrane that encloses the heart.
How is vascular calcification treated?
Accordingly, calcium-free phosphate binders, calcimimetics, and parathyroidectomy, which decrease circulating calcium levels, arrest or prevent vascular calcification, whereas active vitamin D and calcium-containing phosphate binders, which increases calcium levels, promote calcification.
How is calcification of the kidney treated?
Treatment involves ensuring adequate fluid intake and treating the underlying cause, if applicable, in order to prevent renal failure. Surgical therapy may be required in cases where there is significant stone formation in the renal tract, particularly if the stone causes obstruction and/or recurrent infections.
Is calcification the same as kidney stones?
Any disorder that leads to high levels of calcium in the blood or urine may lead to nephrocalcinosis. In this disorder, calcium deposits in the kidney tissue itself. Most of the time, both kidneys are affected. Nephrocalcinosis is related to, but not the same as, kidney stones (nephrolithiasis).
How do you treat vascular calcifications?
The use of thiosulfate to treat vascular calcification stems from reports that it prevents nephrolithiasis in humans. A subsequent study showed that it reduced tumoral calcifications in renal failure89 and this was followed almost two decades later by several reports of successful treatment of CUA with thiosulfate.
How serious is calcification of the arteries?
Plaques in the arteries of your heart are the main cause of heart attacks. If a piece of plaque breaks off a blood clot can form around it, blocking the flow of blood and the oxygen supply to your heart. This can damage the heart muscle, and can be life threatening.
Can you reverse vascular calcification?
These data suggested that vascular calcification, once it occurs, is unlikely to be reversed. Thus, therapeutic interventions that stop and reverse calcification may be of great value to patients with ESRD with vascular disease.