Chronic kidney disease is associated with increased risk of sudden cardiac death

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are recognized as a higher risk group for cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to various traditional risk factors, kidney-specific factors, and comorbidities, which have recently attracted significant attention. However, the long-term risk of acute CVD events such as sudden cardiac death (SCD) in CKD patients is unclear. Using the UK Biobank and Changsha cohorts, we find that CKD is associated with an increased risk of SCD. Patients with early-stage CKD, especially those with advanced CKD, faced an elevated risk of SCD. Furthermore, through proteomic analyses of the UK Biobank and Framingham Offspring Cohort, we identify five candidate proteins (NTproBNP, ANGPT2, FGF23, DTNB, and SEPTIN8) linked to SCD risk in CKD patients. Here, we show that patients with CKD have an increased risk of SCD in the long term, underscoring the imperative for strategies that address both cardiovascular risk and renal function in this population. CKD patients have elevated cardiovascular risk, but the long-term risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) is unclear. Here, the authors show that CKD, especially advanced stages, increases SCD risk, identifying proteins linked to this risk for future targeted prevention.