Kidney disease after heart attacks rose in England
Cumulative cases of chronic kidney disease rose from 22.2% before the pandemic to 27.5% during and 31.0% after, with higher risks in non-White groups.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational study tracked 294,165 adults aged 18 and older (median age 64; 70.4% male) who had a heart attack in England between 2017 and 2023, using linked national healthcare records. Over follow-up through 2024, 37,030 individuals (12.6%) developed chronic kidney disease, a long-term loss of kidney function.
The cumulative incidence of kidney disease up to eight years after a heart attack rose from 22.2% in the pre-pandemic period to 27.5% during the pandemic and 31.0% in the post-pandemic period. Compared with White individuals, the adjusted hazard ratio for kidney disease was 1.89 in Black individuals, 1.36 in Asian individuals, 1.26 in people of Mixed or Multiple ethnicities, and 1.17 in Other ethnicities. These ethnic differences in risk remained consistent across all pandemic periods.
Why it matters
Heart disease and chronic kidney disease are common conditions that frequently co-occur as people age. As survival after heart attacks improves, understanding long-term organ complications helps researchers identify high-risk groups to preserve health in later life.
Caveats
Because this was an observational study using electronic health records, it shows associations rather than cause, and findings from England may not apply to other healthcare systems. In addition, the results were reported in a conference abstract that has not yet undergone full peer review.
The paper
University of Leeds; University of Dundee
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
