Data from USRDS and Thai Renal Replacement Therapy revealed cardiovascular disease is a common cause of death in ESRD patients. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is one of the risk factors however there are few studies about this in chronic dialysis children. In the present study, the authors retrospectively reviewed the prevalence of LVH and variable parameters correlated with LVMI in chronic dialysis patients in Phramongkutklao Hospital. Eleven hemodialysis and three peritoneal dialysis patients, aged 12.1 ± 5 years, were included. LVH was diagnosed by calculating LVMI from echocardiographic study. Clinical and laboratory data were reviewed to compare parameters between LVH and without LVH groups. Prevalence of LVH was 57%. In the LVH group, 7 patients had eccentric LVH and 1 patient had concentric LVH. LVH patients had significantly high systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), index of SBP, and index of DBP. Blood pressure also had positive correlation and patients age had negative correlation with LVMI. In conclusion, high blood pressure is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy. Serial echocardiography and long term follow up should be done in this patient group to prevent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Keywords: Left ventricular hypertrophy, Left ventricular mass index, Dialysis, Children