Ivana Jurić

Spontaneous Tendon Ruptures in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease

Spontaneous tendon ruptures in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have been occasionally reported. We describe the largest group of patients with spontaneous rupture of major tendons so far reported. Rupture of 16 tendons occurred in 9 patients. The mean patient age was 52.78 years; 77.7% were male. Four patients were treated with hemodialysis, 4 received a renal transplant and 1 was treated with automated peritoneal dialysis. Bilateral rupture was found in 5 patients (3 quadriceps, 1 Achilles and 1 supraspinatus and subscapularis tendon rupture). Distal brachial biceps tendon rupture, Achilles tendon rupture, unilateral quadriceps and rupture of the oblique internal abdominal muscle tendon were developed by 1 patient each. Patients were treated with renal replacement therapy for 3–21 years (mean 12.89). Five patients were treated with steroids and 6 patients received quinolone antibiotic before the tendon rupture. All patients had laboratory and clinical signs of hyperparathyroidism. A patient who was treated with automated peritoneal dialysis for 3 years had primary hyperparathyroidism with nephrolithiasis as the cause of ESRD. Our results demonstrated that patients with hyperparathyroidism are at increased risk for development of spontaneous tendon ruptures, and the risk is further amplified when they receive quinolone antibiotics and/or steroids.

An exceptional cause of progressive dyspnoea in a renal transplant recipient: hemangioma of the mitral valve.

Primary cardiac hemangioma is a very rare benign vascular tumor, with valvular hemangiomas being even less frequent as valves are generally avascular structures. We present the first case of mitral valve hemangioma in a renal transplant recipient. Patient presented with progressive dyspnea. Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) demonstrated a 0.8x0.9-cm pedunculated tumor mass on the posterior leaflet of the mitral valve. Coronary angiography identified a small artery which filled from the circumflex artery and fed the tumor. The tumor was surgically removed. Histopathological examination revealed a hemangioma. The postoperative course was uneventful with stable graft function.

First Documented Case of Endometrial Carcinoma in a Patient Treated with Tamoxifen for Encapsulating Peritoneal Sclerosis

Editor: encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (ePS) is a wellrecognized complication of long-term peritoneal dialysis (1–3). Because of its antifibrotic effect, tamoxifen has been proposed as a treatment for ePS (4,5). Tamoxifen may have serious side effects. An increased risk of thromboembolic disease has been recognized in patients treated with tamoxifen for breast cancer (6). There is also well-known relationship between endometrial pathology and tamoxifen use, especially in postmenopausal women (7–9). Several cases of endometrial carcinoma after longterm use of tamoxifen for the treatment of breast cancer have been reported in the literature (9–11). We report the first documented case of endometrial carcinoma in a patient treated with tamoxifen for ePS.

Acute Peritonitis Caused by Propionibacterium Acnes in a Peritoneal Dialysis Patient

Abstract Propionibacterium acnes is a gram-positive human skin commensal that is involved in the pathogenesis of acne and prefers anaerobic growth conditions. It has been considered as a low virulence pathogen in different clinical conditions. We present the case of acute peritonitis caused by Propionibacterium acnes in a peritoneal dialysis patient.

[PP.28.05] CHARACTERISTICS OF BLOOD PRESSURE IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING CHRONIC HEMODIALYISIS

Objective: Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the most important cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with chronic kidney disease particularly in those undergoing chronic hemodialysis (HD). Hypertension (HT), the most important CV risk factor is frequently present and has several particular characteristics. Our aim was to analyze characteristics of HT in our group 194 patients undergoing HD. Design and method: In this study we have analyzed characteristics of HT and arterial stiffness (i.e. PWV) in 194 patients (118 m, 83 w; mean age 63+/-15 y). All patients were dialyzed three times a week with standard bicarbonate hemodialysis solutions and synthetic dialyzers according to the recent international guidelines. All measurements were done mid week day. Blood pressure (BP) was measured with Omron M6 (after dialysis session), ABPM using Spacelab 90207 (24 h) and PWV (before dialysis session) was determined with Arteriograph. Results: Significant difference in BP values measured after dialysis and ABPM were found (day, night, for both systolic and diastolic BP). Only 6.6% patients were normotensive, 63.3% hypertensive, while white coat (WCH) and masked hypertension (MH) were diagnosed in 26.4% and 3.7%, respectively (no gender differences). There were no differences in BP values between men and women, but PWV > 10m/s were found more frequently in men than in women in (m vs. w 56.5% vs.39.7%;p = 0.049; 48.3% in total; 10.4 +/-1.9 vs.9.7+/-1.7;p < 0.01). In logistic regression age was the most important predictor for pathologic values of PWV. WCH had slightly higher values of PWV than normotensives (9.7 +/-2.0 vs.8.5+/-1.3; p = 0.09). PWV in MH was not different compared to the sustained HT (10.2+/-1.7). Non-dipping status was established in 45.3%, extreme dipping in 18.8%, and only 21.6% were dippers. Conclusions: Our results confirmed significant clinical value of ABPM in patients undergoing dialysis. Determination of WCH subjects and non-dippers is of utmost importance for everyday tailoring of therapy. Increased arterial stiffness should be considered as well.