Depression and anxiety among patients undergoing dialysis and kidney transplantation : a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are the most prevalent psychological disorders among end-stage renal disease patients and are associated with various conditions that result in poorer health outcomes, e.g. reduced quality of life and survival. We aimed to investigate the prevalences of depression and anxiety among patients undergoing renal replacement therapy. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. METHODS: Patients? depression and anxiety levels were assessed using the Beck Inventory. The independent variables were the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Charlson Comorbidity Index and Global Subjective Assessment, along with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: 205 patients were included. Depression and anxiety symptoms were detected in 41.7% and 32.3% of dialysis patients and 13.3% and 20.3% of transplantation patients, respectively. Lower SF-36 mental summary scores were associated with depression among transplantation patients (odds ratio, OR: 0.923; 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.85-0.99; P = 0.03) and dialysis patients (OR: 0.882; 95% CI: 0.83-0.93; P ? 0.001). Physical component summary was associated with depression among dialysis patients (OR: 0.906; 95% CI: 0.85-0.96; P = 0.001). Loss of vascular access (OR: 3.672; 95% CI: 1.05-12.78; P = 0.04), comorbidities (OR: 1.578; 95% CI: 1.09-2.27; P = 0.01) and poorer SF-36 mental (OR: 0.928; 95% CI: 0.88-0.97; P = 0.002) and physical (OR: 0.943; 95% CI: 0.89-0.99; P = 0.03) summary scores were associated with anxiety among dialysis patients. CONCLUSIONS: Depression and anxiety symptoms occurred more frequently among patients undergoing dialysis. Quality of life, comorbidities and loss of vascular access were associated factors

Early detection of acute kidney injury in the perioperative period of liver transplant with neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin.

BACKGROUND:Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in patients undergoing liver transplant (LT) and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. We aim to evaluate the pattern of urine and plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) elevation during the perioperative period of LT and to assess it as a prognostic marker for AKI progression, need for dialysis and mortality. METHODS:We assessed NGAL levels before induction of anesthesia, after portal reperfusion and at 6, 18, 24, and 48 h after surgery. Patients were monitored daily during the first week after LT. RESULTS:Of 100 enrolled patients undergoing liver transplant, 59 developed severe AKI based on the KDIGO serum creatinine (sCr) criterion; 34 were dialysed, and 21 died within 60 days after LT. Applying a cut-off value of 136 ng/ml, UNGAL values 6 h after surgery was a good predictor of AKI development within 7 days after surgery, having a positive predictive value (PPV) of 80% with an AUC of 0.76 (95% CI 0.67-0.86). PNGAL at 18 h after LT was also a good predictor of AKI in the first week, having a PPV of 81% and AUC of 0.74 (95% CI 0.60-0.88). Based on PNGAL and UNGAL cut-off criteria levels, time to AKI diagnosis was 28 and 23 h earlier than by sCr, respectively. The best times to assess the need for dialysis were 18 h after LT by PNGAL and 06 h after LT by UNGAL. CONCLUSION:In conclusion, the plasma and urine NGAL elevation pattern in the perioperative period of the liver transplant can predict AKI diagnosis earlier. UNGAL was an early independent predictor of AKI development and need for dialysis. Further studies are needed to assess whether the clinical use of biomarkers can improve patient outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Registered at Clinical Trials ( clinicaltrials.gov ) in March 24th, 2014 by title "Acute Kidney Injury Biomarkers: Diagnosis and Application in Pre-operative Period of Liver Transplantation (AKIB)" and identifier NCT02095431, retrospectively registered

Parathyroidectomy improves survival in patients with severe hyperparathyroidism: a comparative study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in CKD is associated with an increased risk for mortality, but definitive data showing that parathormone control decreases mortality is still lacking. This study aimed to compare the mortality of patients with severe SHPT submitted to parathyroidectomy(PTX) with those who did not have access to surgery. METHODS: This is a retrospective study in a cohort of 251 CKD patients with severe SHPT who were referred to a CKD-MBD Center for PTX from 2005 until 2012. RESULTS: Most of our patients had indication of PTX, but only 49% of them had access to this surgical procedure. After a mean follow-up of 23 months, 72 patients had died. Non-survivors were older; more often had diabetes, lower serum 25 vitamin D and mostly had not been submitted to surgery. The relative risk of death was lower in the PTX patients (0.428; 95% CI, 0.28 to 0.67; p<0.0001). After adjustments, mortality risk was dependent on age (1.04; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.07; p = 0.002), 25 vitamin D (0.43; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.81; p = 0.006) and no access to PTX (4.13; 95% CI, 2.16 to 7.88; p<0.0001). Results remained the same in a second model using the PTX date as the study start date for the PTX group. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirms the benefit of PTX on mortality in patients with severe SHPT. The high mortality encountered in our population is significant and urges the need to better treat these patients

COVID-19 Computed tomography patterns in renal replacement therapy patients

ABSTRACT Introduction: Lung diseases are common in patients with end stage kidney disease (ESKD), making differential diagnosis with COVID-19 a challenge. This study describes pulmonary chest tomography (CT) findings in hospitalized ESKD patients on renal replacement therapy (RRT) with clinical suspicion of COVID-19. Methods: ESKD individuals referred to emergency department older than 18 years with clinical suspicion of COVID-19 were recruited. Epidemiological baseline clinical information was extracted from electronic health records. Pulmonary CT was classified as typical, indeterminate, atypical or negative. We then compared the CT findings of positive and negative COVID-19 patients. Results: We recruited 109 patients (62.3% COVID-19-positive) between March and December 2020, mean age 60 ± 12.5 years, 43% female. The most common etiology of ESKD was diabetes. Median time on dialysis was 36 months, interquartile range = 12–84. The most common pulmonary lesion on CT was ground glass opacities. Typical CT pattern was more common in COVID-19 patients (40 (61%) vs 0 (0%) in non-COVID-19 patients, p < 0.001). Sensitivity was 60.61% (40/66) and specificity was 100% (40/40). Positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 100% and 62.3%, respectively. Atypical CT pattern was more frequent in COVID-19-negative patients (9 (14%) vs 24 (56%) in COVID-19-positive, p < 0.001), while the indeterminate pattern was similar in both groups (13 (20%) vs 6 (14%), p = 0.606), and negative pattern was more common in COVID-19-negative patients (4 (6%) vs 12 (28%), p = 0.002). Conclusions: In hospitalized ESKD patients on RRT, atypical chest CT pattern cannot adequately rule out the diagnosis of COVID-19

Characteristics of patients submitted versus not submitted to PTX.

*<p>p<0.05 ; Data expressed as mean (SD), median (min-max), or percentages. PTH = parathormone; PTX = parathyroidectomy, AP (Alkaline Phosphatase).</p>#<p>1 ng/mL = 2.5 nmol/L;</p>α<p>data available for 182 patients.</p

Characteristics of survivors versus non-survivors.

*<p>p<0.0001 Data expressed as mean (SD), median (min-max), or percentages. PTH = parathormone, AP = Alkaline phosphatase.</p>#<p>1 ng/mL = 2.5 nmol/L;</p>α<p>data available for 182 patients.</p

Characteristics of the Patients at Baseline.

<p>Data expressed as mean (SD), median (min-max), or percentage. PTH = parathormone, AP = Alkaline phosphatase.</p>#<p>1 ng/mL = 2.5 nmol/L;</p>α<p>data available for 218 patients.</p

Flow chart of study design.

<p>Refractory hyperparathyroidism was defined as initial intact PTH greater than 800 pg/ml on calcitriol or in the presence of hyperphosphatemia and/or hypercalcemia, which prevented the use of calcitriol.</p

Kaplan-Meier survival curves according to PTX in the second model, using the PTX date as the study start date for the PTX group.

<p>A higher median survival time was observed for PTX group [superior dashed line] than non-PTX group [continuous line]. Log-rank p<0.0001 for curves A (unadjusted), B (adjusted for age, gender and diabetes) and C (adjusted for age, gender, diabetes and vitamin D).</p