Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the main causes of death in patients undergoing dialysis. Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is one of the major predictors of mortality and heart failure in this patient group. It has been shown that patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) which is usually carried out via a surgically created arteriovenous fistula (AVF) have an increased risk for pulmonary hypertension and poorer right ventricular function compared with healthy controls . However, there are few data comparing the patients undergoing HD and peritoneal dialysis (PD), in terms of echocardiographic right ventricular function.~The aim of the present study was to elucidate the impact of both long term PD and HD therapy via brachial AVF on RV function in patients with preserved left ventricular (LV) function.~Patients undergoing dialysis were grouped as follows: 46 patients on PD and 37 patients on HD with brachial AVF. All of the study patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography. Left and right ventricular parameters were compared between two groups.
Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is a major cause of heart failure and mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate the long-term impacts of different dialysis modalities on RV function assessed by conventional echocardiography in ESRD patients with preserved left ventricular function. The study included 83 ESRD patients grouped as follows: peritoneal dialysis (PD; n=46) and hemodialysis with brachial arterio-venous fistula (HD; n=37). Conventional echocardiography including 2D and tissue Doppler imaging was performed in all patients. Echocardiographic parameters were compared between groups.