The correlation between protein energy wasting and the incidence of main adverse cardiovascular events in adult maintenance hemodialysis patients: a single-center retrospective cohort study

Protein energy wasting (PEW) is prevalent in adult maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Concurrently, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain a leading cause of mortality in MHD patients. However, the relationship between PEW and CVD in MHD patients remains unclear. We conducted a retrospective cohort study at Shanghai East Hospital. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 210 adult MHD patients were finally enrolled. Patients were categorized into two groups based on PEW diagnostic criteria, including 122 patients (58.1%) with PEW and 88 patients (41.9%) without PEW. We further analyzed the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and all-cause mortality in one year, along with their risk factors. MACE incidence was significantly higher in the PEW group compared with the non-PEW group (<i>p</i> = 0.015). Multivariate Cox regression showed PEW, CVD, high N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and low Kt/V urea were the risk factors of MACE. Age ≥ 65 years and high NT-proBNP were the risk factors of all-cause death. Among patients aged ≥ 65 years, PEW was associated with a higher risk of all-cause death (<i>p</i> = 0.043). Total cholesterol &lt; 3.4 mmol/L, albumin &lt; 38 g/L and prealbumin &lt; 280 mg/L were the thresholds for MACE incidence in MHD patients with PEW. Adult MHD patients with PEW had an increased risk of MACE and all-cause mortality. Strategies aimed at optimizing total cholesterol, albumin, and prealbumin levels may improve cardiovascular outcomes in adult MHD patients with PEW.