Pathogenesis of vascular calcifications

Since the dramatically increased cardiovascular mortality of dialysis patients can not be sufficiently explained by an increased incidence of traditional risk factors, research in the recent years was directed to identify novel pathomechanisms involved in cardiovascular dysfunction in uremia. One hallmark of cardiovascular disease in patients on dialysis is the presence of excessive vascular and valvular calcifications. In young adults on dialysis, Goodmann et al. were able to demonstrate by EBCT that coronary artery calcifications were progressive with time and especially with time on dialysis, and associated with hyperphosphatemia, an increased Ca x PO4 product and an increased calcium intake (N Eng J Med 342:1478-1483, 2000).