Abstract

Background

Hyperkalemia is relatively frequent in CKD patients treated with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system inhibitors (RAASi).

Aim

The aim of the present study was to estimate the increased risk of cardiovascular events and mortality due to sub-optimal adherence to RAASi in CKD patients with hyperkalemia.

Methods

An observational retrospective cohort study was conducted, based on administrative and laboratory databases of five Local Health Units. Adult patients discharged from the hospital with a diagnosis of CKD, who were prescribed RAASi between January 2010 and December 2017, were included. We evaluated the appearance of documented episodes of hyperkalemia, RAASi therapy adherence and the effects of these two variables on cardiovascular events, death and dialysis inception for study patients.

Results

Of the 9241 selected patients, 4451 met all the criteria for study inclusion. Among them, 1071 had at least one documented episode of hyperkalemia, while 3380 did not. After propensity score matching based on several variables we obtained 2 groups of patients. The appearance of hyperkalemia caused treatment discontinuation in 21.8% of patients previously on RAASi therapy, and sub-optimal adherence (proportion of days covered  < 80%) in 33.6% of them. Non-adherence to RAASi therapy among hyperkalemia patients was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events (hazard ratio [HR] 1.45, confidence interval [CI] 1.02–2.08; p < 0.05). Moreover, in non-adherent hyperkalemia patients, the risk of death increased by 126% (HR 2.26, CI 1.62–3.15; p < 0.001) compared with adherent patients.

Conclusions

In a large cohort of CKD patients treated with RAASi, we observed that following hyperkalemia onset, non-adherence to RAASi medication can result in an increased risk of cardiovascular events and death.

Graphical abstract