Salvageability of renal function following renal revascularisation in children with Takayasu’s arteritis-induced renal artery stenosis

Background. Renal artery revascularisation procedures are usually carried out on children with renal artery stenosis from varied causes, including Takayasu’s arteritis. Reports on the outcome of such procedures in children usually refer to the improvement in blood pressure, with only minimal mention of effects on renal function.Objective. Salvageability of renal function in children who underwent renal revascularisation for Takayasu’s arteritis-induced renal artery stenosis (TARAS) was the focus of this study.Methods. We undertook a retrospective analysis of children aged ≤16 years with angiographically confirmed TARAS who underwent renal artery revascularisation procedures between 1990 and 2010. Outcomes of renal function were studied over a period of 2 years and were defined as: (i) improvement: >20% increase in estimated glomerular filtration rate (e-GFR) from presurgery value; (ii) stabilisation: e-GFR within 20% of presurgery value; and (iii) failure: >20% deterioration in e-GFR from presurgery value. The GFR was estimated using the Schwartz formula.Results. Twenty children (9 males and 11 females, age range 2 - 14 years) had 27 renal artery revascularisation procedures. Thirteen of the patients (65.0%) had bilateral renal artery stenosis. The baseline mean e-GFR was 88.6 (standard deviation (SD) 25.4) mL/min/1.73 m2 and the mean duration of follow-up was 28.80 (SD 25.62) months. All the patients had stable or improved renal function until the 2-year follow-up, when the proportion decreased to 92.3% (12/13), as failure was recorded in one child. Bilateral revascularisation was found to be significantly associated with improvement in renal function in the early postoperative period (p=0.04).Conclusion. Renal artery revascularisation procedures are successful in salvaging renal function in children with TARAS

Prevalence and Determinants of Endothelial Dysfunction among Adults Living with HIV in Northwest Nigeria

Background: Endothelial dysfunction constitutes an early pathophysiological event in atherogenesis and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to assess the prevalence, determinants, and degree of endothelial dysfunction in antiretroviral therapy (ART)–treated people living with HIV (PLWH) in northwestern Nigeria using brachial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD). Methods: This was a comparative, cross-sectional study. A total of 200 ART-treated adults living with HIV with no evidence of kidney disease were compared with 200 HIV-negative participants attending a tertiary hospital in Kano, Nigeria, between September 2020 and May 2021. Endothelial function was evaluated by measuring FMD with a high-resolution vascular ultrasound transducer. FMD was calculated as the ratio of the brachial artery diameter after reactive hyperemia to baseline diameter and expressed as a percentage of change. Blood and urine samples were obtained from participants in both arms. Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) was calculated using the 2021 CKD-EPI estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) creatinine-cystatin C equation without the race variable, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was measured using enzymatic method. Results: The overall mean age (± standard deviation) of the study participants was 42 ± 11 years. Participants in the comparison arm were younger than PLWH (38 ± 11 versus 46 ± 10 years, respectively). The median (interquartile range) uACR was 41.6 (23.2–162.9) mg/g for the ART-treated PLWH versus 14.5 (7.4–27.0) mg/g for healthy controls. PLWH had a significantly lower mean percent FMD when compared to HIV-negative participants (9.8% ± 5.4 versus 12.1% ± 9.2, respectively). Reduced FMD was independently associated with HIV infection (β = –2.83%, 95% CI, –4.44% to –1.21%, p = 0.001), estimated glomerular filtration rate (β = –0.04%, 95% CI, –0.07% to –0.01%, p = 0.004) and LDL cholesterol (β = –1.12%, 95% CI, –2.13% to –0.11%, p = 0.029). Conclusion: HIV-positive status, lower estimated GFR, and higher LDL cholesterol levels were independently associated with endothelial dysfunction. Future prospective studies with larger cohorts of persons living with HIV (and age- and sex-matched HIV-negative controls) are needed to gain further insight into these important findings. In the interim, aggressive management of modifiable risk factors is warranted

Left ventricular mass, geometric patterns, and diastolic myocardial performance in children with chronic kidney disease

Background: Excessive left ventricular mass (LVM) and diastolic dysfunction are associated with higher morbidity and mortality among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Objective: The objective of the following study is to determine the prevalence of increased LVM index (LVMI), pattern of abnormal LV geometry, and diastolic dysfunction in Nigerian CKD children and to establish a relationship of these with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Subjects and Methods: Cross-sectional comparative study of LV structure and diastolic function of 21 children with CKD age- and sex-matched and controls asymptomatic for cardiac disease. Results: The median LVMI was 62.19 (34.7) g/m2 in CKD patients compared with 52.89 (30.2) g/m2 in controls (P = 0.04). Excessive LVMI was present in 3 (14.3%) individuals compared with none (0%) of the controls P < 0.001. The prediction equation for LVMI using eGFR is: LVMI = 123.11+ (−0.48) × eGFR ml/m2/min. Abnormal LV geometry was present in 19.05% of the CKD patients and none of the controls (P = 0.04). CKD stages differed significantly with respect to the presence of abnormality with LV geometry (P = 0.04). LV diastolic dysfunction was present in 4 (19.1%) individuals (2 each had impaired relaxation and restrictive patterns) compared with 1 (4.8%) control (restrictive pattern)-P <; 0.001. Children with CKD who had abnormal LV geometry had 48 times increase in the odds of having LV diastolic dysfunction when compared with those having normal LV geometry (confidence interval = 2.31–997.18, P = 0.012). Conclusion: Excessive LVM, LV hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction are significantly more common in children with CKD compared with controls