Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Western countries a
nd it is especially frequent in dialysis patients. Although for a long time
physicians have been mainly focused on the severity of luminal coronary st
enosis, atherosclerosis starts and expands in the thickness of the arterial
wall much before it extends into the vessel lumen. Indeed, most acute coro
nary events occur in patients with non-obstructive luminal disease. On path
ologic examination, patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) show large
r and more extensively calcified atherosclerotic lesions than non-dialysis
patients. Recent evidence shows that even very young dialysis patients show
premature calcification of the coronary arteries. Therefore, early detecti
on of atherosclerotic disease with a non-invasive imaging technology, such
as electron beam tomography (EBT), may provide an opportunity to modify the
disease course and reduce the related event rate. (C) 2001 by the National
Kidney Foundation, Inc.