Original Article The worsening of left ventricular hypertrophy is the strongest predictor of sudden cardiac death in haemodialysis patients: a 10 year survey

Background. Although the incidence of sudden cardiac death (SCD) is high among haemodialysis (HD) patients, there are few papers available on this topic. The aim of this study on a single-centre HD popula-tion observed over a 10 year period was to identify patient- and HD-related specific factors that might be associated with a higher risk of SCD. Methods. The study included 123 patients (76 men; age 29–79 years) undergoing renal replacement therapy at our dialysis unit for at least 6 months. For each patient, routine laboratory tests were performed monthly, blood pressure was measured both at the start and the end of each dialysis session, haemoglobin and pre-dialysis serum Kþ were determined weekly