The sublingual microcirculation and frailty index in chronic kidney disease patients

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between sublingual microcirculatory measures and frailty index in those attending a kidney transplant assessment clinic. MethodsPatients recruited had their sublingual microcirculation taken using sidestream dark field videomicroscopy (MicroScan, Micro Vision Medical, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) and their frailty index score using a validated short form via interview. ResultsA total of 44 patients were recruited with two being excluded due to microcirculatory image quality scores exceeding 10. The frailty index score indicated significant correlations with total vessel density (p < .0001, r = -.56), microvascular flow index (p = .004, r = -.43), portion of perfused vessels (p = .0004, r = -.52), heterogeneity index (p = .015, r = .32), and perfused vessel density (p < .0001, r = -.66). No correlation was shown between the frailty index and age (p = .08, r = .27). ConclusionsThere is a relationship between the frailty index and microcirculatory health in those attending a kidney transplant assessment clinic, that is not confounded by age. These findings suggest that the impaired microcirculation may be an underlying cause of frailty.