Diagnosis of Arterial Media Calcification in Chronic Kidney Disease

Arterial media calcification (AMC) is often the only vascular calcification (VC) present in young patients with chronic renal failure and its presence is associated with higher mortality rates. Currently, X-ray imaging (as a standard approach) is able to show AMC in areas without diffuse overlapping arterial intimal calcification (AIC), but X-ray imaging only allows us to identify this lesion when the vessel is widely calcified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using ultrasonography as opposed to X-rays to visualize AMC in patients with chronic renal failure. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we examined 105 patients (chronic kidney disease stage IV: 19 patients, hemodialysis: 48 patients, renal transplant: 26 patients; mean age: 54 ± 14 years; 65 males and 40 females); B-mode ultrasonography was performed to detect AMC or AIC on the superficial femoral artery (SFA). As a control, plain radiography of the thigh was performed in all patients.