A Case of Renovascular Hypertension Controlled by Renal Autotransplantation

Renovascular hypertension caused by renal artery stenosis is an uncommon but curative cause of hypertension in children. We report a case of recurrent severe hypertension caused by renovascular hypertension. After recurrence of hypertension after redo percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty, the blood pressure was finally controlled by renal autotransplantation. This case demonstrates the importance of considering renovascular hypertension as a cause of severe hypertension in children. Also, renal autotransplantation should be considered as a viable treatment option for treatment of renovascular hypertension that is recurrent after renal angioplasty.ope

Etiologies and Underlying Diseases of Leg Edema in Elderly Patients

Background: Leg edema is a common symptom among elderly patients with multiple underlying diseases. This study was aimed to investigate the etiologies and underlying diseases of leg edema in elderly patients.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 247 patients aged over 65, who visited an Emergency Department of a tertiary hospital due to leg edema from January 2010 to December 2012. Results: A total of 226 patients with complete medical records were included. The most common cause of leg edema in elderly patients was renal failure (42 cases, 18.6%), followed by heart failure (37 cases, 16.4%), and deep vein thrombosis (32 cases, 14.2%). However, the etiologies were not established in 66 cases (29.2%). Patients with leg edema caused by renal and heart failure had renal (40 cases, 95.2%) and cardiovascular diseases (29 cases, 78.4%), respectively, while others had diabetes mellitus and trauma. Patients with leg edema caused by deep vein thrombosis had underlying conditions such as cancer (13 cases, 40.6%), trauma, surgery within 1 year, and diabetes mellitus. Overall, chronic bilateral edema (120 cases, 53.1%) was most commonly observed form of leg edema in elderly patients. Deep vein thrombosis, cellulitis, and lymphedema usually caused unilateral edema, whereas systemic diseases such as renal failure, heart failure, and liver cirrhosis caused bilateral edema. Conclusion: Leg edema in elderly patients is usually caused by systemic diseases such as renal and heart failure closely related to underlying diseases. Therefore, it is important to consider the variety of underlying diseases, when approaching the cause and treatment of leg edema in elderly patients.ope

Change of Nutritional Status Assessed Using Subjective Global Assessment Is Associated With All-Cause Mortality in Incident Dialysis Patients

Subjective global assessment (SGA) is associated with mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. However, little is known whether improvement or deterioration of nutritional status after dialysis initiation influences the clinical outcome. We aimed to elucidate the association between changes in nutritional status determined by SGA during the first year of dialysis and all-cause mortality in incident ESRD patients. This was a multicenter, prospective cohort study. Incident dialysis patients with available SGA data at both baseline and 12 months after dialysis commencement (n = 914) were analyzed. Nutritional status was defined as well nourished (WN, SGA A) or malnourished (MN, SGA B or C). The patients were divided into 4 groups according to the change in nutritional status between baseline and 12 months after dialysis commencement: group 1, WN to WN; group 2, MN to WN; group 3, WN to MN; and group 4, MN to MN. Cox proportional hazard analysis was performed to clarify the association between changes in nutritional status and mortality. Being in the MN group at 12 months after dialysis initiation, but not at baseline, was a significant risk factor for mortality. There was a significant difference in the 3-year survival rates among the groups (group 1, 92.2%; group 2, 86.0%; group 3, 78.2%; and group 4, 63.5%; log-rank test, P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the mortality risk was significantly higher in group 3 than in group 1 (hazard ratio [HR] 2.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.27-6.03, P = 0.01) whereas the mortality risk was significantly lower in group 2 compared with group 4 (HR 0.35, 95% CI 0.17-0.71, P < 0.01) even after adjustment for confounding factors. Moreover, mortality risk of group 3 was significantly higher than in group 2 (HR 2.89, 95% CI 1.22-6.81, P = 0.02); there was no significant difference between groups 1 and 2. The changes in nutritional status assessed by SGA during the first year of dialysis were associated with all-cause mortality in incident ESRD patients.ope

Low Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number is Associated With Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

Mitochondrial dysfunction may play an important role in abnormal glucose metabolism and systemic inflammation. We aimed to investigate the relationship between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number and clinical outcomes in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. We recruited 120 prevalent PD patients and determined mtDNA copy number by PCR. Primary outcome was all-cause mortality, whereas secondary outcomes included cardiovascular events, technical PD failure, and incident malignancy. Cox proportional hazards analysis determined the independent association of mtDNA copy number with outcomes. The mean patient age was 52.3 years; 42.5% were men. The mean log mtDNA copy number was 3.30 ± 0.50. During a follow-up period of 35.4 ± 19.3 months, all-cause mortality and secondary outcomes were observed in 20.0% and 59.2% of patients, respectively. Secondary outcomes were significantly lower in the highest mtDNA copy number group than in the lower groups. In multiple Cox analysis, the mtDNA copy number was not associated with all-cause mortality (lower two vs highest tertile: hazard ratio [HR] = 1.208, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.477-3.061). However, the highest tertile group was significantly associated with lower incidences of secondary outcomes (lower two vs highest tertile: HR [95% CI] = 0.494 [0.277-0.882]) after adjusting for confounding factors. The decreased mtDNA copy number was significantly associated with adverse clinical outcomes in PD patients.ope

The effect of specialized continuous renal replacement therapy team in acute kidney injury patients treatment

PURPOSE: Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) has been established for critically ill acute kidney injury (AKI) patients. In addition, some centers consist of a specialized CRRT team (SCT) with physicians and nurses. To our best knowledge, however, ona a few studies have yet been carried out on the superiority of SCT management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 551 patients, who received CRRT between January 2008 and March 2009, were divided into two groups based on the controller of CRRT. The impact of the CRRT management on 28-day mortality was compared between two groups by Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox analysis. RESULTS: During the study period, the number of filters used, down-time per day, and intensive care unit length of day were significantly higher in non-SCT group than in SCT group (6.2 hrs vs. 5.0 hrs, p=0.042; 5.0 hrs vs. 3.8 hrs, p<0.001; 27.5 days vs. 21.1 days, p=0.027, respectively), while net ultrafiltration rate was significantly lower in non-SCT group than SCT group (28.0 mL/kg/hr vs. 29.5 mL/kg/hr, p=0.043, respectively). In addition, 28-day mortality rate was significantly lower in SCT group than with non-SCT group (p=0.031). Moreover, Cox regression analysis showed that 28-day mortality rate was significantly lower in SCT control group, even after adjusting for age, gender, severity scores, biomarkers, risk, injury, failure, loss, and end-stage renal disease, and contributing factors (hazard ratio 0.91, p=0.046). CONCLUSION: A well-trained CRRT team could be beneficial for mortality improvement of AKI patients requiring CRRT.ope