The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is currently around 10% in the general population, a figure that grows up to 30-50% in at-risk subgroups such as those with diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease [1–4]. A reduction in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a well-known, independent risk for premature cardiovascular events, especially coronary artery disease (CAD) [5,6] which is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with CKD [7–9]. A strong, inverse relationship has been reported between the degree of eGFR reduction and the incidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular events [10–12].
