Occurrence and Significance of Heart Disease in Uraemia: An Autopsy Study

The occurrence of heart disease in uraemic patients was evaluated from study of 94 autopsied cases of chronic renal failure. The most common autopsy-ascertained causes of death were congestive heart failure (37%), acute myocardial infarction (13%) and tamponading pericarditis (8%). Death from congestive heart failure was significantly more common among the patients aged 60 or more than in the younger group. Hypertension was recorded in 59% of the patients, including all those with fatal myocardial infarction. Coronary arteriosclerosis was graded as absent to mild in about 40% of the patients. More severe grades occurred predominantly in the older patients. Tamponading pericarditis almost exclusively affected patients in haemodialysis. The authors conclude that most deaths among patients with end-stage renal failure were due to congestive heart failure. Ischaemic heart disease did not seem to be a more common cause of death than in the general population.