Clin Nephrol
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Cardiovascular complications are a major clinical problem in patients with chronic kidney disease and end stage renal failure. Death from cardiac causes accounts for 40%-50% of all deaths in these patients and is thus up to 20 times more common in uremic patients than in the general population. Cardiovascular pathology in patients with renal failure is complex, but accelerated atherosclerosis has repeatedly been discussed as one major cause. ⋯ These changes in vascular wall composition may alter vessel elasticity and thus contribute to impaired vessel function in renal failure. It is obvious from the above mentioned facts that cardiovascular disease in the renal patient is certainly multifaetorial in origin. There are, however, important issues to adress in the future, like (I) the characterization of vascular morphology in the different vascular beds, (II) the pathomechanisms of vascular and plaque calcification as well as the potential beneficial effect of rigorous control of non-classical risk factors (i.e. high P or Ca x P, inflammation, oxidative stress, etc.), (III) an additive or supraadditive effect of various classical and non-classical risk factors and (IV) the role of diabetes mellitus in modifying these vascular alterations.