Regional citrate anticoagulation for renal replacement therapies in patients with acute kidney injury: a position statement of the Work Group “Renal Replacement Therapies in Critically Ill Patients” of the Italian Society of Nephrology

Patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) on renal replacement therapy (RRT) are at increased risk for bleeding but usually require anticoagulation of the extracorporeal circuit, a key prerequisite for delivery of an adequate RRT dose. To this end, many anti-hemostatic strategies have been proposed, unfractionated heparin--with all of its significant drawbacks and complications--being the most common method used so far. In this clinical context, regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA) could represent the most promising strategy, and it has been endorsed by recent guidelines on AKI. The aim of this position statement is to critically review the current evidence on RCA for the extracorporeal circuit of RRT in patients with AKI, in order to provide suggestions for its application in clinical practice. To this purpose, the most relevant clinical studies and recent guidelines on AKI with special regard to anti-hemostatic strategies for RRT circuit maintenance have been reviewed and commented. Experts from the Working Group "Renal Replacement Therapies in Critically Ill Patients" of the Italian Society of Nephrology have prepared this position paper, which discusses the basic principles, advantages and drawbacks of RCA based on the available safety and efficacy data. Advice is given on how to use and monitor RCA in the different RRT modalities, in order to avoid complications while maximizing the delivery of the prescribed RRT dose

Sleep disturbances in specific learning disorders: a qualitative and quantitative investigation

Background: The literature reports a significant association between sleep disorders and learning disabilities. Nevertheless, not all children with learning disorders have sleep alterations, and which sleep characteristics are associated with which learning difficulty is still unknown. The study aimed at acquiring new information on the relation between sleep disturbances or habits and the learning profiles of children with a specific learning disorder (SLD). Methods: The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) and an actigraph (the FitBit-Flex, FB-F) were used in 26 and 16 SLD children respectively; all children were also assessed for learning skills. Results: Although parents' reports at the SDSC did not differentiate SLD from typical readers, the awakening, respiratory and arousal disturbances at the SDSC correlated with sleep duration at the FB-F. Sleep alterations at the FB-F actigraph characterize SLD with literacy difficulties: children with reading decoding difficulties showed shorter minimum amount of sleep than typical children, and severe SLDs showed shorter maximum sleep duration and a higher number of awakenings in comparison to SLDs with mild learning deficits. Conclusions: Mild alterations in the amount, duration and quality of sleep may characterize children with learning disorders and actigraphy proves to be a useful tool in starting the individual monitoring of sleep in these populations

The Role of Executive Functions in the Development of Empathy and Its Association with Externalizing Behaviors in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Other Psychiatric Comorbidities

: Executive functions have been previously shown to correlate with empathic attitudes and prosocial behaviors. People with higher levels of executive functions, as a whole, may better regulate their emotions and reduce perceived distress during the empathetic processes. Our goal was to explore the relationship between empathy and executive functioning in a sample of children and adolescents diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder alone or associated with comorbid Disruptive Behavior Disorders and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder. We also aimed to examine the role of empathic dimensions and executive skills in regulating externalizing behaviors. The 151 participants with ADHD were assigned to four groups according to their psychiatric comorbidity (either "pure" or with ASD and/or ODD/CD) and assessed by means of either parent- or self-reported questionnaires, namely the BRIEF-2, the BES, and the IRI. No questionnaire was found to discriminate between the four groups. Affective Empathy was found to positively correlate with Emotional and Behavioral Regulation competences. Furthermore, Aggressiveness and Oppositional Defiant Problems were positively associated with Executive Emotional and Behavioral Regulation competences. On the other hand, Rule-Breaking Behaviors and Conduct Problems were negatively associated with Affective Empathy and with Behavioral skills. Our study provides an additional contribution for a better understanding of the complex relationship between empathic competence and executive functions, showing that executive functioning and empathic attitudes interact with each other to regulate aggressive behaviors. This study further corroborates developmental models of empathy and their clinical implications, for which externalizing behaviors could be attenuated by enhancing executive functioning skills

Metformin-Associated Lactic Acidosis Undergoing Renal Replacement Therapy in Intensive Care Units: A Five-Million Population-Based Study in the North-West of Italy

Background: Metformin-associated lactic acidosis (MALA) is a severe complication of drug administration with significant morbidity and mortality. So far no study in large population areas have examined the incidence, clinical profile and outcome of acute kidney injury (AKI)-MALA patients admitted in intensive care units (ICUs) and treated by renal replacement therapy (MALA-RRT). Methods: Retrospective analysis over a 6-year period (2010-2015) in Piedmont and Aosta Valley regions (5,305,940 inhabitants, 141,174 diabetics treated with metformin) of all MALA-RRT cases. Results: One hundred and seventeen cases of AKI-MALA-RRT were observed (12.04/100,000 metformin treated diabetics, 1.45% of all RRT-ICU patients). Survival rate was 78.3%. The average duration of RRT was 4.0 days at mean dialysis effluent of 977 mL/kg/day. At admission most patients were dehydrated, and experienced shock and oliguria. Conclusion: Our data showed that MALA-RRT is a common complication, needing more prevention. Adopted policy of early, extended, continuous and high efficiency dialysis could contribute to an observed high survival rate