Abstract:Aim To investigate the risk factors of abdominal aortic calcification(AAC) for maintenance hemodialysis(MHD) patients.Methods The lateral X-ray plain films of abdomen were used for AAC evaluation in MHD patients. 177 MHD patients were divided into calcified group(AAC>0)and non-calcified group(AAC0). The demographic characteristics,dialysis vintage,clinical history as cardiovascular events,hypertension,hyperlipidemia,diabetes,medication history of calcium carbonate and active vitamin D,laboratory markers as serum calcium,phosphorus,intact parathyroid hormone(iPTH) and hypersensitive c-reactive protein(hs-CRP) were compared between the two groups. The risk factors of AAC were analyzed by Logistic regression model. The probability of AAC among patients with different level of iPTH was evaluated.Results There are 103(58.2%) MHD patients with AAC. The incidence of cardiovascular events was significantly higher in calcified group compared with non-calcified group(33.3% vs 9.4%). The results of univariable analysis showed that the number of patients with aging,longer history of dialysis,higher levels of hs-CRP,history of hyperlipidemia or hypertension,medication history of calcium carbonate or nonselective active vitamin D in calcified group was more than that in non-calcified group. The difference was statistically significant. The results of Logistic regression analysis showed that aging,hyperlipidemia,hypertension,longer dialysis vintage,higher iPTH and hs-CRP levels,medical history of nonselective active vitamin D or calcium carbonate were risk factors of AAC. Serum iPTH level was positively correlated with the incidence of AAC even after adjusted by age,gender,smoking,dialysis vintage,history of hypertension or diabetes,high hs-CRP,medication history of nonselective active vitamin D or calcium carbonate.Conclusion The incidence of AAC is higher in MHD patients,which might affect the prognosis of cardiovascular events. Aging,hyperlipidemia,hypertension,dialysis vintage,higher hs-CRP,nonselective active vitamin D and calcium carbonate use are risk factors of AAC. The higher levesl of iPTH might be one of the most important risk factors of AAC for MHD patients.