TY  - JOUR
AU  - Dehom, Salem
AU  - Knutsen, Synnove
AU  - Shavlik, David
AU  - Bahjri, Khaled
AU  - Ali, Hatem
AU  - Pompe, Lance
AU  - Spencer-Hwang, Rhonda
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/12/17
TI  - Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality among Renal Transplant Recipients
JO  - OBM Transplantation
SP  - 095
VL  - 03
IS  - 04
AB  - Background: Substantial evidence has been used to establish links between air pollution and increased risks of overall health morbidity and mortality, especially for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. However, very few investigations have explored these relationships among highly sensitive populations, such as renal transplant recipients. Despite the quality improvement of life after renal transplantation, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are still the major causes of graft loss and mortality. The present study was designed to evaluate possible long-term effects of ambient fine particulate matter on the risk of CVD mortality, including coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, sudden cardiac arrest and congestive heart failure (CHF) among renal transplant recipients.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study consists of 93,857 non-smoking, adult kidney transplant recipients between 2001 and 2015, and who have lived in the contiguous United States at the same location throughout the study period. Annual-average concentrations for the three air pollutants (PM2.5, O3, and NO2) were assigned to subjects’ residential zip codes. Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the association between PM2.5 and CVD mortality risk.
Results: In the multivariable-adjusted models, a 10 ug/m3 increase in ambient PM2.5 levels was associated with increased risks of total CVD (HR=1.68, 95% CI: 1.43 - 1.98), CHD (HR=2.20, 95%CI: 1.53 – 3.17), stroke (HR=1.82, 95%CI: 1.15 – 2.89), and cardiac arrest
(HR=1.80, 95%CI: 1.45 – 2.23). PM2.5 was not significantly associated with risk of CHF mortality.
Conclusions: The findings of this study provide strong evidence supporting an adverse effect of ambient PM2.5 in this vulnerable group. Positive associations were found between PM2.5 and all CVD mortality outcomes, except CHF mortality. Our findings raise the question of whether more emphasis should be put on implementing preventive strategies to lessen the impact of air pollution on CVD risk.
SN  - 2577-5820
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.transplant.1904095
DO  - 10.21926/obm.transplant.1904095
ID  - Dehom2019
ER  -