Increasing access to integrated ESKD care as part of Universal Health Coverage

The global nephrology community recognizes the need for a cohesive strategy to address the growing problem of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). In March 2018, the International Society of Nephrology hosted a summit on integrated ESKD care, including 92 individuals from around the globe with diverse expertise and professional backgrounds. The attendees were from 41 countries, including 16 participants from 11 low- and lower-middle–income countries. The purpose was to develop a strategic plan to improve worldwide access to integrated ESKD care, by identifying and prioritizing key activities across 8 themes: (i) estimates of ESKD burden and treatment coverage, (ii) advocacy, (iii) education and training/workforce, (iv) financing/funding models, (v) ethics, (vi) dialysis, (vii) transplantation, and (viii) conservative care. Action plans with prioritized lists of goals, activities, and key deliverables, and an overarching performance framework were developed for each theme. Examples of these key deliverables include improved data availability, integration of core registry measures and analysis to inform development of health care policy; a framework for advocacy; improved and continued stakeholder engagement; improved workforce training; equitable, efficient, and cost-effective funding models; greater understanding and greater application of ethical principles in practice and policy; definition and application of standards for safe and sustainable dialysis treatment and a set of measurable quality parameters; and integration of dialysis, transplantation, and comprehensive conservative care as ESKD treatment options within the context of overall health priorities. Intended users of the action plans include clinicians, patients and their families, scientists, industry partners, government decision makers, and advocacy organizations. Implementation of this integrated and comprehensive plan is intended to improve quality and access to care and thereby reduce serious health-related suffering of adults and children affected by ESKD worldwide

Status of care for end stage kidney disease in countries and regions worldwide:international cross sectional survey

ObjectiveTo determine the global capacity (availability, accessibility, quality, and affordability) to deliver kidney replacement therapy (dialysis and transplantation) and conservative kidney management.DesignInternational cross sectional survey.SettingInternational Society of Nephrology (ISN) survey of 182 countries from July to September 2018.ParticipantsKey stakeholders identified by ISN's national and regional leaders.Main outcome measuresMarkers of national capacity to deliver core components of kidney replacement therapy and conservative kidney management.ResultsResponses were received from 160 (87.9%) of 182 countries, comprising 97.8% (7338.5 million of 7501.3 million) of the world's population. A wide variation was found in capacity and structures for kidney replacement therapy and conservative kidney management-namely, funding mechanisms, health workforce, service delivery, and available technologies. Information on the prevalence of treated end stage kidney disease was available in 91 (42%) of 218 countries worldwide. Estimates varied more than 800-fold from 4 to 3392 per million population. Rwanda was the only low income country to report data on the prevalence of treated disease; 5 (<10%) of 53 African countries reported these data. Of 159 countries, 102 (64%) provided public funding for kidney replacement therapy. Sixty eight (43%) of 159 countries charged no fees at the point of care delivery and 34 (21%) made some charge. Haemodialysis was reported as available in 156 (100%) of 156 countries, peritoneal dialysis in 119 (76%) of 156 countries, and kidney transplantation in 114 (74%) of 155 countries. Dialysis and kidney transplantation were available to more than 50% of patients in only 108 (70%) and 45 (29%) of 154 countries that offered these services, respectively. Conservative kidney management was available in 124 (81%) of 154 countries. Worldwide, the median number of nephrologists was 9.96 per million population, which varied with income level.ConclusionsThese comprehensive data show the capacity of countries (including low income countries) to provide optimal care for patients with end stage kidney disease. They demonstrate substantial variability in the burden of such disease and capacity for kidney replacement therapy and conservative kidney management, which have implications for policy

Giant Cell Tumor of Tendon Sheath in the Knee

The giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath (GCTTS) is a benign lesion which arises from the synovium of a joint, bursa or tendon sheath, with 85% of the tumors occurring in the fingers and 12% of the tumors located in large joints such as the knee and ankle. The GCTTS is usually monoarticular, slowly proliferative and rarely locally aggressive. This paper reports three cases of this rare lesion in the knee. Patients presented with painful swelling in the anterior knee, MRI showed localized soft tissue masses which were able to be excised. A follow up of the cases showed no recurrences. This case report emphasizes the importance of considering GCTTS in the differential diagnosis of soft tissue swelling and pain in large joints

Deep Learning Prediction of Response to Anti-VEGF among Diabetic Macular Edema Patients: Treatment Response Analyzer System (TRAS)

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is the most common cause of visual impairment among patients with diabetes mellitus. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factors (Anti-VEGFs) are considered the first line in its management. The aim of this research has been to develop a deep learning (DL) model for predicting response to intravitreal anti-VEGF injections among DME patients. The research included treatment naive DME patients who were treated with anti-VEGF. Patient’s pre-treatment and post-treatment clinical and macular optical coherence tomography (OCT) were assessed by retina specialists, who annotated pre-treatment images for five prognostic features. Patients were also classified based on their response to treatment in their post-treatment OCT into either good responder, defined as a reduction of thickness by >25% or 50 µm by 3 months, or poor responder. A novel modified U-net DL model for image segmentation, and another DL EfficientNet-B3 model for response classification were developed and implemented for predicting response to anti-VEGF injections among patients with DME. Finally, the classification DL model was compared with different levels of ophthalmology residents and specialists regarding response classification accuracy. The segmentation deep learning model resulted in segmentation accuracy of 95.9%, with a specificity of 98.9%, and a sensitivity of 87.9%. The classification accuracy of classifying patients’ images into good and poor responders reached 75%. Upon comparing the model’s performance with practicing ophthalmology residents, ophthalmologists and retina specialists, the model’s accuracy is comparable to ophthalmologist’s accuracy. The developed DL models can segment and predict response to anti-VEGF treatment among DME patients with comparable accuracy to general ophthalmologists. Further training on a larger dataset is nonetheless needed to yield more accurate response predictions

Hemodialysis Use and Practice Patterns: An International Survey Study

Rationale & Objective: Hemodialysis (HD) is the most common form of kidney replacement therapy. This study aimed to examine the use, availability, accessibility, affordability, and quality of HD care worldwide. Study Design: A cross-sectional survey. Setting & Participants: Stakeholders (clinicians, policy makers, and consumer representatives) in 182 countries were convened by the International Society of Nephrology from July to September 2018. Outcomes: Use, availability, accessibility, affordability, and quality of HD care. Analytical Approach: Descriptive statistics. Results: Overall, representatives from 160 (88%) countries participated. Median country-specific use of maintenance HD was 298.4 (IQR, 80.5-599.4) per million population (pmp). Global median HD use among incident patients with kidney failure was 98.0 (IQR, 81.5-140.8) pmp and median number of HD centers was 4.5 (IQR, 1.2–9.9) pmp. Adequate HD services (3-4 hours 3 times weekly) were generally available in 27% of low-income countries. Home HD was generally available in 36% of high-income countries. 32% of countries performed monitoring of patient-reported outcomes; 61%, monitoring of small-solute clearance; 60%, monitoring of bone mineral markers; 51%, monitoring of technique survival; and 60%, monitoring of patient survival. At initiation of maintenance dialysis, only 5% of countries used an arteriovenous access in almost all patients. Vascular access education was suboptimal, funding for vascular access procedures was not uniform, and copayments were greater in countries with lower levels of income. Patients in 23% of the low-income countries had to pay >75% of HD costs compared with patients in only 4% of high-income countries. Limitations: A cross-sectional survey with possibility of response bias, social desirability bias, and limited data collection preventing in-depth analysis. Conclusions: In summary, findings reveal substantial variations in global HD use, availability, accessibility, quality, and affordability worldwide, with the lowest use evident in low- and lower-middle–income countries

Hemodialysis Use and Practice Patterns: An International Survey Study

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE Hemodialysis (HD) is the most common form of kidney replacement therapy. This study aimed to examine the use, availability, accessibility, affordability, and quality of HD care worldwide. STUDY DESIGN A cross-sectional survey. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS Stakeholders (clinicians, policy makers, and consumer representatives) in 182 countries were convened by the International Society of Nephrology from July to September 2018. OUTCOMES Use, availability, accessibility, affordability, and quality of HD care. ANALYTICAL APPROACH Descriptive statistics. RESULTS Overall, representatives from 160 (88%) countries participated. Median country-specific use of maintenance HD was 298.4 (IQR, 80.5-599.4) per million population (pmp). Global median HD use among incident patients with kidney failure was 98.0 (IQR, 81.5-140.8) pmp and median number of HD centers was 4.5 (IQR, 1.2-9.9) pmp. Adequate HD services (3-4 hours 3 times weekly) were generally available in 27% of low-income countries. Home HD was generally available in 36% of high-income countries. 32% of countries performed monitoring of patient-reported outcomes; 61%, monitoring of small-solute clearance; 60%, monitoring of bone mineral markers; 51%, monitoring of technique survival; and 60%, monitoring of patient survival. At initiation of maintenance dialysis, only 5% of countries used an arteriovenous access in almost all patients. Vascular access education was suboptimal, funding for vascular access procedures was not uniform, and copayments were greater in countries with lower levels of income. Patients in 23% of the low-income countries had to pay >75% of HD costs compared with patients in only 4% of high-income countries. LIMITATIONS A cross-sectional survey with possibility of response bias, social desirability bias, and limited data collection preventing in-depth analysis. CONCLUSIONS In summary, findings reveal substantial variations in global HD use, availability, accessibility, quality, and affordability worldwide, with the lowest use evident in low- and lower-middle-income countries

Status of care for end stage kidney disease in countries and regions worldwide: International cross sectional survey

Objective To determine the global capacity (availability, accessibility, quality, and affordability) to deliver kidney replacement therapy (dialysis and transplantation) and conservative kidney management. Design International cross sectional survey. Setting International Society of Nephrology (ISN) survey of 182 countries from July to September 2018. Participants Key stakeholders identified by ISN's national and regional leaders. Main outcome measures Markers of national capacity to deliver core components of kidney replacement therapy and conservative kidney management. Results Responses were received from 160 (87.9%) of 182 countries, comprising 97.8% (7338.5 million of 7501.3 million) of the world's population. A wide variation was found in capacity and structures for kidney replacement therapy and conservative kidney management-namely, funding mechanisms, health workforce, service delivery, and available technologies. Information on the prevalence of treated end stage kidney disease was available in 91 (42%) of 218 countries worldwide. Estimates varied more than 800-fold from 4 to 3392 per million population. Rwanda was the only low income country to report data on the prevalence of treated disease; 5

Peritoneal Dialysis Use and Practice Patterns: An International Survey Study

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE Approximately 11% of people with kidney failure worldwide are treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD). This study examined PD use and practice patterns across the globe. STUDY DESIGN A cross-sectional survey. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS Stakeholders including clinicians, policy makers, and patient representatives in 182 countries convened by the International Society of Nephrology between July and September 2018. OUTCOMES PD use, availability, accessibility, affordability, delivery, and reporting of quality outcome measures. ANALYTICAL APPROACH Descriptive statistics. RESULTS Responses were received from 88% (n=160) of countries and there were 313 participants (257 nephrologists [82%], 22 non-nephrologist physicians [7%], 6 other health professionals [2%], 17 administrators/policy makers/civil servants [5%], and 11 others [4%]). 85% (n=156) of countries responded to questions about PD. Median PD use was 38.1 per million population. PD was not available in 30 of the 156 (19%) countries responding to PD-related questions, particularly in countries in Africa (20/41) and low-income countries (15/22). In 69% of countries, PD was the initial dialysis modality for≤10% of patients with newly diagnosed kidney failure. Patients receiving PD were expected to pay 1% to 25% of treatment costs, and higher (>75%) copayments (out-of-pocket expenses incurred by patients) were more common in South Asia and low-income countries. Average exchange volumes were adequate (defined as 3-4 exchanges per day or the equivalent for automated PD) in 72% of countries. PD quality outcome monitoring and reporting were variable. Most countries did not measure patient-reported PD outcomes. LIMITATIONS Low responses from policy makers; limited ability to provide more in-depth explanations underpinning outcomes from each country due to lack of granular data; lack of objective data. CONCLUSIONS Large inter- and intraregional disparities exist in PD availability, accessibility, affordability, delivery, and reporting of quality outcome measures around the world, with the greatest gaps observed in Africa and South Asia

Availability, accessibility, and quality of conservative kidney management worldwide

Background and objectives People with kidney failure typically receive KRT in the form of dialysis or transplantation. However, studies have suggested that not all patients with kidney failure are best suited for KRT. Additionally, KRT is costly and not always accessible in resource-restricted settings. Conservative kidney management is an alternate kidney failure therapy that focuses on symptom management, psychologic health, spiritual care, and family and social support. Despite the importance of conservative kidney management in kidney failure care, several barriers exist that affect its uptake and quality. Design, setting, participants, & measurements The Global Kidney Health Atlas is an ongoing initiative of the International Society of Nephrology that aims to monitor and evaluate the status of global kidney care worldwide. This study reports on findings from the 2018 Global Kidney Health Atlas survey, specifically addressing the availability, accessibility, and quality of conservative kidney management. Results Respondents from 160 countries completed the survey, and 154 answered questions pertaining to conservative kidney management. Of these, 124 (81%) stated that conservative kidney management was available. Accessibility was low worldwide, particularly in low-income countries. Less than half of countries utilized multidisciplinary teams (46%); utilized shared decision making (32%); or provided psychologic, cultural, or spiritual support (36%). One-quarter provided relevant health care providers with training on conservative kidney management delivery. Conclusions Overall, conservative kidney management is available in most countries; however, it is not optimally accessible or of the highest quality