How serious is vascular calcification?

Vascular calcifications are common but potentially serious. They can increase your risk of stroke and blood clots, according to Cardiovascular Research. It’s important to learn what causes calcification in the body and how to treat it.

What is the treatment for vascular calcification?

A study of new hemodialysis patients found a decrease in mortality associated with the reduced progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in patients treated with sevelamer compared with calcium-containing phosphate binders, suggesting a beneficial effect of treating vascular calcification.

Is calcification of the kidneys serious?

If calcium deposits form, the medical names for this is “calcification.” Calcification can occur with age, but it can also be linked with infections, injuries, and cancer. In addition, it can be dangerous for too much calcium to build up in the arteries, kidneys, or pericardium, the membrane that encloses the heart.

What causes vascular calcification in kidney?

Initiation of calcification occurs due to an imbalance of these regulators. Traditional risk factors for vascular calcification include age, male gender, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and other atherosclerotic risk factors.

What is renal vascular calcification?

Renal artery calcifications, also known as renovascular calcifications, are deposits of calcium salts on the wall of a renal artery, found incidentally on imaging, usually CT 1. They are associated with extrarenal atherosclerosis and linked to hypertension 2.

What is vascular calcification in the kidney?

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Vascular calcification (VC) is one of the independent risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular mortality in both the general population and CKD patients.

What does it mean to have vascular calcifications?

Vascular calcification is the pathological deposition of mineral in the vascular system. It has a variety of forms, including intimal calcification and medial calcification, but can also be found in the valves of the heart.

How is calcification of the kidney treated?

Treatment will involve methods to reduce abnormal levels of calcium, phosphate, and oxalate in the blood and urine. Options include making changes in your diet and taking medicines and supplements. If you take medicine that causes calcium loss, your health care provider will tell you to stop taking it.

What causes renal calcification?

It may be caused by use of certain medications or supplements, infection, or any condition that leads to high levels of calcium in the blood or urine including hyperparathyroidism, renal tubular acidosis, Alport syndrome, Bartter syndrome, and a variety of other conditions.

Can you reverse vascular calcification?

Calcification in coronary artery disease can be reversed by EDTA-tetracycline long-term chemotherapy. Pathophysiology.

Is vascular calcification common?

Cardiovascular complications are the leading cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Vascular calcification is a common complication in CKD, and London et al.

What does renal calcification mean?

Calcification is the abnormal accumulation of calcium salts in body tissue. This abnormal accumulation of calcium in the kidney is referred to as nephrocalcinosis, which means a generalized increase in the kidney’s calcium content rather than a localized increase seen in calcified renal infarction and tuberculosis.

What is renal vascular calcifications?

Is vascular calcification common in kidney disease?

Unfortunately, vascular calcification is common in those with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease, especially when combined with risk factors such as smoking, advanced age, diabetes, and hypertension, according to a BioMed Research International study.

Should I be concerned about vascular calcifications?

If your doctor tells you that you have vascular calcifications, you’re right to be concerned. Vascular calcifications are mineral deposits on the walls of your arteries and veins. These mineral deposits sometimes stick to fatty deposits, or plaques, that are already built up on the walls of a blood vessel.

What causes medial calcification in dialysis patients?

Medial calcification occurs in young to middle-aged patients on chronic dialysis even in absence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors (14). In fact, the extent of coronary artery calcification in dialysis patients is 2-5 fold greater in age-matched patients who have angiographically proven coronary artery disease (15).

What is the pathophysiology of conventional calcifications?

Conventional calcifications, of renal or extrarenal location, are generally a result of the conversion of vascular smooth muscle cells to osteoblasts, due to retention of phosphate, hypercalcemia, previous dialysis treatment, active vitamin D administration or calcification inhibitor deficiency among other causal factors 15.