Kidney patients left out of trials

Although at high risk for cardiovascular death, patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are frequently left out of cardiovascular trials, School of Medicine researchers reported in the September 20 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers’ review of 153 clinical trials published between 1985 and 2005 found that patients with kidney disease were excluded from 56 percent of the trials and were more likely to be excluded from multicenter trials. Cardiovascular death is the leading cause of death in patients with CKD.

“Inclusion and reporting of kidney disease patients in cardiovascular trials must improve,” said senior investigator Chirag Parikh, M.D., assistant professor in the Section of Nephrology. “Alternatively, we need to design separate trials for cardiovascular treatment exclusively in CKD patients.”