Table 1 Clinical characteristics of patients at entry into study.
| Age (years) | 54.2 (15.0) |
| Men | 43% |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 26.9 (5.0) |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 19% |
| Abnormal ECG | 26% |
| Risk factors | |
| Family history of premature CVD | 30% |
| Current smoking | 7% |
| Hypertension | 91% |
| Hyperlipidaemia | 56% |
| Diabetes | 26% |
| Previous cardiac event | 32% |
| hs‐CRP (mg/l) | 6.0 (1.6–9.0) |
| Lipid profile | |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/l) | 4.91 (1.4) |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/l) | 1.10 (0.36) |
| LDL cholesterol (mmol/l) | 2.81 (0.90) |
| Triglyceride (mmol/l) | 2.20 (2.20) |
| Blood pressure (mm Hg) | |
| Systolic | 144 (21) |
| Diastolic | 84 (13) |
| Renal factors | |
| Renal replacement therapy | 65% |
| Duration of dialysis (years) | 1.6 (2.5) |
| Glomerular filtration rate (ml/min) | 19.4 (7.4) |
| Haemoglobin (g/l) | 109.5 (16.2) |
| Homocysteine (μmol/l) | 25.9 (13.2) |
| Phosphate (mmol/l) | 1.8 (0.5) |
| Albumin (g/l) | 37.9 (4.6) |
| Drugs | |
| β blocker | 31% |
| ACE inhibitor | 43% |
| Calcium channel blocker | 42% |
| Statin | 70% |
| Platelet inhibitors | 42% |
| Resting echocardiographic measurements | |
| Ejection fraction (%) | 57 (11) |
| LVMI2.7 (g/m2.7) | 54 (17) |
Continuous variables are expressed as mean (SD) or median (interquartile range) and categorical variables as percentages.
CVD, cardiovascular disease; HDL, high density lipoprotein; hs‐CRP, high sensitive C reactive protein; LDL, low density lipoprotein; LVMI, left ventricular mass index.