Zhu X, Cai H, Zhu M, et al. - Researchers focused on the prognostic significance of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) determined by plain lateral abdominal radiography in patients on maintenance haemodialysis (MHD). They ascertained the abdominal aortic calcification score (AACS) by using lateral abdominal radiography. Two groups of patients were defined: no or minor calcification group (AACS < 5) and moderate to severe calcification group (AACS ≥ 5). Older age, longer dialysis vintage, presence of smoking and higher Log fibroblast growth factor-23 serum levels were identified as the factors that independently predicted moderate to severe calcification. A median follow-up of 6.0 years was performed. Significantly higher all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality were observed in patients in the moderate to severe calcification group vs that in the no or minor calcification group, as demonstrated by Kaplan–Meier survival curves. AACS was identified as an independent predictor of CVD mortality in a multivariate Cox regression. AAC prevailed in MHD patients and could serve as a source of potential predictive information for CVD mortality. For the assessment of vascular calcification in daily clinical practice, plain lateral abdominal radiography might be a suitable screening method.