We investigated the risk factors for pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients
receiving maintenance peritoneal dialysis (MPD). A group of 180 end-stage renal
disease patients (124 men and 56 women; mean age: 56.43±8.36) were enrolled in our
study, which was conducted between January 2009 and June 2014. All of the patients
received MPD treatment in the Dialysis Center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of
Soochow University. Clinical data, laboratory indices, and echocardiographic data
from these patients were collected, and follow-ups were scheduled bi-monthly. The
incidence and relevant risk factors of PH were analyzed. The differences in
measurement data were compared by t-test and enumeration data were compared with the
χ2 test. Among the 180 patients receiving MPD, 60 were diagnosed with PH. The
remaining 120 were regarded as the non-PH group. Significant differences were
observed in the clinical data, laboratory indices, and echocardiographic data between
the PH and non-PH patients (all P<0.05). Furthermore, hypertensive nephropathy
patients on MPD showed a significantly higher incidence of PH compared with
non-hypertensive nephropathy patients (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis
showed that the proportion of internal arteriovenous fistula, C-reactive protein
levels, and ejection fraction were the highest risk factors for PH in patients
receiving MPD. Our study shows that there is a high incidence of PH in patients
receiving MPD and hypertensive nephropathy patients have an increased susceptibility
to PH.