Demographic data for the AASV patients and controls.

<p>AASV = ANCA-associated Systemic Vasculitis. GPA = Granulomatosis with polyangiitis. MPA = Microscopic polyangiitis. N = Number of subjects. F = Female. M = Male. HBD = healthy blood donors. PV = Polycythemia Vera. TP = renal transplant recipients. SLE = Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. RA = Rheumatoid Arthritis. BVAS = Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score. DAS = Disease activity score. SLEDAI = SLE disease activity index. IQR = Interquartile range.</p

Neutrophil survival among patients with high G-CSF levels.

<p>% Neutrophil survival = % of annexin-V negative and 7-AAD negative cells after 20 hour culture. AASV = ANCA-associated Systemic Vasculitis. RA = Rheumatoid Arthritis. GM-CSF = Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor. UD = Undetectable (<2 pg/ml).</p>*/**/***<p>Are signals for the common patients between <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0032439#pone-0032439-t002" target="_blank">table 2</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0032439#pone-0032439-t003" target="_blank">3</a>.</p

Gene expression of transcription factors in neutrophils.

<p>All results are expressed as median fold change relative to Cyclophilin A.</p>(*)<p>P value<0.01,</p>(**)<p>p value<0.001, and</p>(***)<p>p value<0.0001, according to Mann-Whitney test and as compared to HBD.</p><p>HBD = healthy blood donors. AASV = ANCA-associated Systemic Vasculitis. PV = Polycythemia Vera. TP = renal transplant recipients. RA = Rheumatoid Arthritis.</p

Rate of neutrophil survival and apoptosis.

<p>Neutrophils isolated from 60 HBD, 44 AASV patients, 8 PV patients, 18 TP, 21 SLE patients, and 20 RA patients were cultured in vitro in AIM-V medium. The percentage of surviving neutrophils (1a) and apoptotic neutrophils (1b) was measured after 20 hours. % Neutrophil survival = % of annexin-V negative and 7-AAD negative cells after 20 hour culture. % Neutrophil apoptosis = % of annexin-V positive and 7-AAD negative cells after 2o hour culture. HBD = healthy blood donors. AASV = ANCA-Associated Systemic Vasculitis. PV = Polycythemia Vera. TP = renal transplant recipients. SLE = Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. RA = Rheumatoid Arthritis.</p

Gene expression of pro-/anti-apoptotic factors in neutrophils.

<p>All results are expressed as median fold change relative to Cyclophilin A.</p>(*)<p>P value<0.05, according to Mann-Whitney test and as compared to HBD.</p><p>HBD = healthy blood donors. AASV = ANCA-associated Systemic Vasculitis. PV = Polycythemia Vera. TP = renal transplant recipients. RA = Rheumatoid Arthritis.</p

Neutrophil survival among patients with high GM-CSF levels.

<p>% Neutrophil survival = % of annexin-V negative and 7-AAD negative cells after 20 hour culture. AASV = ANCA-associated Systemic Vasculitis. RA = Rheumatoid Arthritis. GM-CSF = Granulocyte Macrophage-Colony Stimulating Factor. UD = Undetectable (<2 pg/ml).</p>*/**/***<p>Are signals for the common patients between <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0032439#pone-0032439-t002" target="_blank">table 2</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0032439#pone-0032439-t003" target="_blank">3</a>.</p

Coding practice in national and regional kidney biopsy registries

Background: Kidney biopsy registries all over the world benefit research, teaching and health policy. Comparison, aggregation and exchange of data is however greatly dependent on how registration and coding of kidney biopsy diagnoses are performed. This paper gives an overview over kidney biopsy registries, explores how these registries code kidney disease and identifies needs for improvement of coding practice. Methods: A literature search was undertaken to identify biopsy registries for medical kidney diseases. These data were supplemented with information from personal contacts and from registry websites. A questionnaire was sent to all identified registries, investigating age of registries, scope, method of coding, possible mapping to international terminologies as well as self-reported problems and suggestions for improvement. Results: Sixteen regional or national kidney biopsy registries were identified, of which 11 were older than 10 years. Most registries were located either in Europe (10/16) or in Asia (4/16). Registries most often use a proprietary coding system (12/16). Only a few of these coding systems were mapped to SNOMED CT (1), older SNOMED versions (2) or ERA-EDTA PRD (3). Lack of maintenance and updates of the coding system was the most commonly reported problem. Conclusions: There were large gaps in the global coverage of kidney biopsy registries. Limited use of international coding systems among existing registries hampers interoperability and exchange of data. The study underlines that the use of a common and uniform coding system is necessary to fully realize the potential of kidney biopsy registries.</p