Evaluation of Iron Status in Patients of Chronic Kidney Disease - A study to assess the best Indicators Including Serum Transferrin Receptor Assay

Anemia is an early complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The iron deficiency is an important contributor, more so in the Pakistani population. As routine standalone iron tests do not accurately reflect the actual status in the complex environment of CKD, there is a need to study better indicators. Serum iron, ferritin, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), and serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) levels were estimated in 100 primary iron deficiency anemia (IDA) patients (controls-Group 1) and 68 newly diagnosed CKD cases. The CKD patients were divided into two groups: Serum ferritin <=100 μg/L (Group 2) and >100 μg/L (Group 3). The values of percentage saturation, log of ferritin (log_ferritin), and the ratio of sTfR to log ferritin (sTfR/log_f or sTfR index) were calculated. The CKD cases were further divided depending on ferritin cut-offs of 30, 50, 70, and 100 μg/L and statistically analyzed including ROC and AUC, to choose the best diagnostic parameter for accurate assessment of iron status in CKD cases. The mean serum ferritin was 11.34 μg/L, 28.70 μg/L, and 281.81 μg/L, and the mean sTfR was 2.34 μg/ml, 1.82 μg/ml, and 1.28 μg/ml in Groups 1, 2, and 3. Among all groups, the difference was found to be significant for serum iron, log_ferritin, and sTfR/log_f. The sTfR and sTfR/log_f showed good discrimination between IDA and Anemia of chronic disease in CKD cases, but sTfR/log_f gave the best discrimination at all cut-off levels of ferritin. At a ferritin cut-off of 50 μg/L, the sTfR/log_f value of 0.83 had a sensitivity of 93.5% and specificity of 95.45%, and at a ferritin cut-off 100 μg/L, the same value of 0.83 had a sensitivity of 95.5% and specificity of 86.5%. The ratio of sTfR/log_f is the best indicator for assessing iron status in CKD. Keywords: Anemia, chronic kidney disease, ferritin, transferrin receptor DOI: 10.7176/JMPB/57-03 Publication date: July 31st 201

Impact of Dietary Counselling to Improve Nutritional Status of Hemodialysis Patients

Proper nutrition may reverse the malnutrition and can modulate renal function in hemodialysis patients. In majority of the dialysis units in Pakistan, nutritional advice is given by health professionals working in dialysis. We compared the impact of dietary counseling by a renal dietitian, on nutritional status with that by health professionals working in dialysis units in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Nutritional assessments were made using subjective global assessment (SGA) scale, which combines assessment of intake, physical findings, and functional status. Two hundred and seventy‑seven patients undergoing hemodialysis from two renal care units in Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar and Lahore Gernal Hospital Lahore Pakistan, were enrolled (138 patients in control group, 139 in experimental group). In the experimental group, patients were given repeated dietary counseling by a renal dietician, whereas control group patients were provided with the necessary nutritional information by another health professional. Detailed nutritional, biochemical, and SGA assessment were done on all of them at the beginning and completion of study after 6 months. Patients were categorized as well‑nourished (WN) (SGA = 1–14), mild to moderate malnourishment (MMM) (SGA = 15–35), and severe malnutrition (SM) (SGA = 36–49). In the present study, the overall malnutrition rate at baseline was 95.3%, and it dropped down to 91.7% after 6 months after nutritional counseling. In the experimental group, malnutrition status decreased from 97.2% to 89.8%, whereas in the control group, malnutrition situation remained same. Compared to baseline, in the control group, there was no improvement in the WN group. However, a shift has been observed from MMM group to SM group suggesting more number of patients are becoming malnourished. Contrarily, in the experimental group, an improvement of +7.2% in WN group and +14.3% in MMM group and a drop of −21.6% in severe malnourished group suggesting more number of patients gaining nutrition. The present study observed a significant improvement in nutritional status of patients who received counseling by the renal dietician. The reduction in SGA score was independent of reductions in serum creatinine and blood urea levels Keywords: Dietary Counselling, Nutritional Status, Hemodialysis Patients DOI: 10.7176/JMPB/55-16 Publication date:May 31st 201

Correlation of Ankle Brachial Index with Peripheral Vascular Disease in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: The aim of this study was to correlate ankle brachial index (ABI) with peripheral vascular disease (PVD) in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Material and methods: This was a hospital based interdisciplinary prospective study. A total of 100 patients in the age group of 30 to 80 years having peripheral vascular disease with predefined inclusion criteria were included in the study. Patients with other causes of raised blood sugar or peripheral vascular disease were excluded by relevant investigations. Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) was calculated using sphygmomanometer, and Colour Doppler Ultrasound (CDU) was used to diagnose PVD. Both the ABI method and the CDU method were compared for detecting PVD. Results: In our study, mean age was 60.04 ± 5.03 years, mean body mass index was 27.10 ± 2.67 kg/m2 and mean duration of diabetes was 7.75 ± 1.50 years. Among the 68 diagnosed cases of PVD on CDU, 70.6% cases were detected to have PVD by the ABI method (true positive) whereas 20 (29.4%) cases remained undiagnosed when ABI alone was used for the diagnosis (false negative). Conversely, among 51 diagnosed cases of PVD by ABI method 5.9% cases were found to be normal on CDU (false positive). The ABI method was found to have specificity of 88.5% but the sensitivity was only 70.6%. Conclusion: ABI has a very high specificity but the sensitivity is low compared to colour Doppler ultrasound. Therefore, if ABI is abnormal, the diagnosis of PVD is almost certain but in symptomatic cases with normal ABI; colour Doppler should be performed to exclude the PVD. Keywords: Ankle Brachial Index, peripheral vascular disease, Colour Doppler Ultrasound, type 2 diabetes mellitus. DOI: 10.7176/JMPB/57-02 Publication date: July 31st 201