Comparison of vascular calcification scoring systems using plain radiographs to predict vascular stiffness in peritoneal dialysis patients

AIM: Vascular stiffness is associated with cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients and related with vascular calcification and microvascular inflammation. The objective of this study is to compare predictability of two different vascular calcification scoring systems using plain radiographs in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. METHODS: Vascular stiffness was represented by heart-to-femoral pulse wave velocity (hfPWV) in our 79 PD patients. Peripheral vascular calcification score (PVCS) and abdominal aortic calcification score (AACS) were measured from plain radiographs. Microvascular inflammation was represented by peritoneal protein clearance (PPC). Regression analysis and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used for analysis. RESULTS: The hfPWV revealed correlation with PVCS and AACS independently. In the ROC curve analysis, area under the curve (AUC) of PVC score was 0.7119 (P = 0.006), and AUC of AACS were 0.6960 (P = 0.011). After multiple linear regression analysis, PVCS remained as a predictor of vascular stiffness (R(2) = 0.579, β = 0.210, P = 0.038). The combination of PVCS and PPC exhibited a trend toward better predictability for vascular stiffness (AUC 0.7738, P = 0.001) than any of the two parameters alone. CONCLUSION: It is assumed that the PVCS system is more predictable for vascular stiffness in our study. Moreover, the combination of PVCS and PPC might be more useful as a screening test for vascular stiffness.