Creatine Kinase Elevation in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease Patients on Tolvaptan Treatment

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common hereditary cause of end-stage kidney disease. Currently, tolvaptan is the only treatment that has proven to delay disease progression. The most notable side effect of this therapy is drug-induced liver injury; however, recently, there have been two reports of creatine kinase (CK) elevation in ADPKD patients on tolvaptan treatment. We set out to monitor and determine the actual incidence of CK elevation and evaluate its potential association with other clinical factors. This is an observational retrospective multicenter study performed in rapidly progressive ADPKD patients on tolvaptan treatment from Barcelona, Spain. Laboratory tests, demographics, treatment dose, and reported symptoms were collected from October 2018 to March 2021. Ninety-five patients initiated tolvaptan treatment during follow-up. The medication had to be discontinued in 31 (32.6%) patients, primarily due to aquaretic effects (12.6%), elevated liver enzymes (8.4%), and symptomatic or persistently elevated CK levels (3.2%). Moreover, a total of 27 (28.4%) patients had elevated CK levels, with most of them being either transient (12.6%), mild and asymptomatic (4.2%), or resolved after dose reduction (3.2%) or temporary discontinuation (2.1%). We pre­sent the largest cohort that has monitored CK levels in a real-life setting, finding them elevated in 28.4% of patients. More research and monitoring will help us understand the clinical implications and the pathophysiological mechanism of CK elevation in this population

Rechazo mediado por anticuerpos en el trasplante renal, respuesta a diferentes estrategias de tratamiento y factores pronósticos

[spa] La mejora en el control del daño mediado por anticuerpos constituye un aspecto crucial para extender la sobrevida del injerto renal. Actualmente, se desconoce de manera completa el grado de respuesta del rechazo mediado por anticuerpos a los tratamientos aceptados como habituales (recambios plasmáticos, IVIG y rituximab). Los resultados de dichas estrategias terapéuticas son controvertidos, especialmente en el caso del rechazo crónico activo medido por anticuerpos. Por otro lado, la población en terapia renal sustitutiva ha mejorado progresivamente su sobrevida, lo que conlleva envejecimiento y aumento de los segundos trasplantes. Esto, condiciona una creciente sensibilización y fragilidad de los receptores, que hacen necesarias nuevas estrategias no basadas en un incremento de la inmunosupresión para el control del daño humoral. El trasplante hepatorrenal simultáneo, en comparación con el trasplante renal aislado, se asocia en series históricas a un menor riesgo de daño crónico mediado por anticuerpos. Sin embargo, actualmente, la mayoría de las series publicadas, describen una mayor mortalidad en los pacientes con sensibilización contra el donante. Es pertinente estudiar el impacto del daño mediado por anticuerpos en la sobrevida del injerto y el paciente con trasplante hepatorrenal simultáneo, dado que el mismo o variantes basadas en su fisiopatología inmune, podrían constituir en un futuro, una alternativa terapéutica en el manejo del rechazo mediado por anticuerpos. La fotoaféresis extracorpórea ha demostrado, con un grado variable de evidencia, su efectividad en el manejo del rechazo del injerto de pulmón y corazón. La misma no se asocia a mayor inmunosupresión o a un incremento del riesgo de infecciones o tumores, lo cual la hace, una terapia atractiva a valorar en el trasplante renal. Sin embargo, hasta el momento, no hay datos sobre su efectividad en el contexto del daño mediado por anticuerpos en el injerto renal

Cross-sectional study of adherence to venous thromboembolism prophylaxis guidelines in hospitalized patients. The Trombo-Brit study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>DVT is the main cause of death in hospitalized patients and thromboprophylaxis is the only way to prevent these deaths. International recommendations suggested that active monitoring of DVT/PE prophylaxis can improve the efficacy in Hospitals.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a cohort study in three consecutives periods to evaluate DVT prophylaxis in 388 adults hospitalized in a General Hospital.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>85% of the population had high risk factors for DVT. Thromboprophylaxis was in accordance with local and International guidelines (ACCP 2008) in 72.7% and 86% of the patients respectively. No significant difference could be founded between clinical and surgical patients. One every 10 patients received higher prophylaxis than suggested by guidelines and two out of ten received deficient or no prophylaxis. The worst 2 groups of patients were those with moderate/low risk of DVT and the group with a contraindication to pharmacologic prophylaxis. We observed a progressive improvement of the DVT prophylaxis in the 3 periods of evaluation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although the rate of recommended thromboprophylaxis is higher than many other reports in the region we still have some areas where we need to improve. Regular audits like these are very helpful to find out what specific areas of the hospital needs some careful attention in order to have a better quality of assistance.</p