Atherosclerosis versus arterial stiffness in advanced renal failure.

Epidemiological as well as clinical studies have shown that regardless of the severity of renal impairment the cardiovascular mortality in renal disease patients is very high compared to the general population. In uremia, cardiovascular disease is a combination of atherosclerosis, characterized by the presence of highly calcified plaques, and arteriosclerosis, an arterial wall alteration in response to both hemodynamic changes and humoral modifications such as inflammation or calcium-phosphate imbalance. Vascular endothelium, recognized as a large and complex endocrine organ strategically located between the wall of the blood vessel and the blood stream, could be the link between these two processes evolving during the same course.