Table 1 Patients’ baseline characteristics
Variable | Total (N = 57) | CVE (N = 21) | No CVE (N = 36) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Demographic characteristics | ||||
 Age (years) | 56.8 ± 15.9 | 65.1 ± 12.4 | 52.0 ± 15.9 | 0.002 |
 Male | 28 (49.1%) | 9 (42.8%) | 19 (52.8%) | 0.470 |
 Dialysis vintage (years) | 5.9 ± 4.9 | 6.3 ± 4.2 | 5.7 ± 5.3 | 0.625 |
 Body mass index (kg/m2) | 23.1 ± 3.6 | 23.9 ± 4.4 | 22.7 ± 3.0 | 0.230 |
Comorbid conditions | ||||
 Diabetes mellitus | 23 (40.4%) | 11 (52.4%) | 12 (33.3%) | 0.157 |
 Hypertension†| 51 (89.5%) | 19 (90.5%) | 32 (88.9%) | 1.000 |
 Coronary artery disease | 18 (31.6%) | 18 (85.7%) | – |  |
 Stroke | 5 (8.8%) | 5 (23.8%) | – |  |
 Peripheral arterial disease | 4 (7.0%) | 4 (19.0%) | – |  |
Laboratory measurements | ||||
 Hemoglobin (g/dl) | 10.3 ± 0.9 | 10.5 ± 0.9 | 10.2 ± 0.8 | 0.281 |
 Blood urea nitrogen (mg/dl) | 65.6 ± 15.1 | 60.0 ± 14.6 | 68.9 ± 14.5 | 0.031 |
 Creatinine (mg/dl) | 10.3 ± 3.5 | 9.5 ± 3.8 | 10.7 ± 3.3 | 0.252 |
 Sodium (mmol/L) * | 137.2 ± 3.2 | 136.7 ± 3.1 | 137.6 ± 3.3 | 0.484 |
 Potassium (mmol/L) | 5.2 ± 0.7 | 5.1 ± 0.8 | 5.2 ± 0.6 | 0.594 |
 Albumin (g/dl) * | 3.8 ± 0.5 | 3.7 ± 0.4 | 3.9 ± 0.5 | 0.004 |
 Calcium (mg/dl) | 9.1 ± 0.8 | 9.1 ± 0.7 | 9.1 ± 0.8 | 0.806 |
 Phosphate (mg/dl) | 4.9 ± 1.5 | 4.4 ± 1.4 | 5.2 ± 1.5 | 0.049 |
 Alkaline phosphatase (U/L) | 79.4 ± 72.6 | 79.1 ± 33.0 | 79.6 ± 88.4 | 0.980 |
 Intact PTH (pg/ml) * | 282.6 ± 245.8 | 237.9 ± 201.2 | 308.8 ± 267.7 | 0.447 |
 Triglyceride (mg/dl) * | 97.8 ± 65.1 | 100.1 ± 64.4 | 96.4 ± 66.4 | 0.591 |
 Low density lipoprotein (mg/dl) | 79.1 ± 28.1 | 77.6 ± 30.7 | 80.0 ± 26.8 | 0.755 |
 α-klotho (pg/ml) * | 542.9 ± 627.7 | 474.6 ± 370.0 | 582.8 ± 740.1 | 0.381 |
 FGF 23 (pg/ml) * | 7185.7 ± 10,737.0 | 4628.1 ± 8915.9 | 8677.6 ± 11,524.5 | 0.077 |
Frailty and nutritional assessment | ||||
 Tilburg frailty indicator* | 3.8 ± 2.6 | 4.7 ± 3.3 | 3.2 ± 2.0 | 0.121 |
 Handgrip strength (kg.f) * | 21.7 ± 12.0 | 18.0 ± 11.9 | 23.9 ± 11.6 | 0.031 |
 Phase angle (°) | 5.0 ± 1.4 | 4.5 ± 1.5 | 5.2 ± 1.2 | 0.045 |
 PG-SGA* | 3.9 ± 5.2 | 5.5 ± 7.1 | 2.9 ± 3.4 | 0.095 |
Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry parameters and TBS | ||||
 L-spine BMD (g/cm2) * | 1.019 ± 0.221 | 0.943 ± 0.255 | 1.062 ± 0.188 | 0.017 |
 T-score (L1–L4) * | −1.2 ± 1.8 | −1.8 ± 2.1 | − 0.8 ± 1.6 | 0.021 |
 Trabecular bone score | 1.44 ± 0.10 | 1.38 ± 0.08 | 1.48 ± 0.10 | <  0.001 |
Medication use | ||||
 Phosphate binder†| 52 (91.2%) | 17 (81.0%) | 35 (97.2%) | 0.056 |
 Vitamin D analogue | 37 (64.9%) | 11 (52.4%) | 26 (72.2%) | 0.130 |
 Cinacalcet†| 4 (7.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 4 (11.1%) | 0.285 |
 Proton pump inhibitor†| 11 (19.3%) | 7 (33.3%) | 4 (11.1%) | 0.078 |
 Warfarin†| 1 (1.8%) | 1 (4.8%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.368 |