Heart failure (HF) is a progressive systemic disease and a major public health problem in developed countries [1]. Despite modern progress in medical management, HF remains a common cause of recurrent hospitalization or death, and a number of prognostic predictors of HF have been reported, including age, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, HF admission, clinical history of hypertension or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, etiology of cardiomyopathy, blood pressure, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level, and parameters of echocardiography or electrocardiogram [2,3]. On the other hand, HF is a systemic clinical syndrome with multiple impaired organs due to low perfusion and congestion

The Selvester QRS score can predict future cardiac events in NIDCM, reflecting myocardial fibrosis assessed by CVF.

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ΔLVdP/dt estimated using DST was a useful predictor of LV-RR and cardiac events in patients with DCM.

Aim: Fast-progressing vascular calcification (VC) is accompanied by renal atrophy and functional deterioration along with atherosclerosis in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the relationship between VC progression and renal functional and/or morphological changes remains unclear.Methods: We included 70 asymptomatic patients with CKD without hemodialysis in our study. To identify temporal variations, the coronary artery calcification score (CACS), abdominal aortic calcification index (ACI), and renal parenchymal volume index (RPVI) were determined via spiral computed tomography scans taken during the study. We investigated significant factors related to annualized variations of CACS (ΔCACS/y) and ACI (ΔACI/y).Results: During the follow-up period (4.6 years), median values of CACS [in Agatston units (AU)] and ACI increased from 40.2 to 113.3 AU (p = 0.053) and from 13.2 to 21.7% (p = 0.036), respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that CACS at baseline (p < 0.001) and diabetes mellitus (DM) status (p = 0.037) for ΔCACS/y and ACI at baseline (p = 0.017) and hypertension (HT) status (p = 0.046) for ΔACI/y were significant independent predictors. Furthermore, annualized RPVI variation was significantly related to both ΔCACS/y and ΔACI/y (R = −0.565, p < 0.001, and R = −0.289, p = 0.015, respectively). On the other hand, independent contributions of the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and annualized eGFR variation to VC progression were not confirmed.Conclusion: The degree of VC at baseline, DM, HT, and changes in renal volume, but not eGFR, had a strong impact on VC progression in patients with CKD.