Risk Factors for Stroke in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Stroke is a public health problem especially in developed countries, being an important cause of death and disability. The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the general population varies from country to country. The percentage of afflicted patients is on the rise, mainly due to the high incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM) complicated with diabetic nephropathy (DN) and of the kidney vascular diseases (hypertensive nephroangiosclerosis and ischemic nephropathy). In patients with CKD, strokes are relatively frequent, especially hemorrhagic ones, due to a host of risk factors, both modifiable and unmodifiable.

Cardiovascular complications (which may be prevented by risk factors control) are the main culprit for the relatively high mortality rate of CKD patients, frequently leading to their death before the initiation of renal replacement treatment (dialysis, kidney transplant).