Johann Nicholas

UK Renal Registry 11th Annual Report (December 2008): Chapter 11 Blood pressure profile of prevalent patients receiving dialysis in the UK in 2007: national and centre-specific analyses

Introduction: Blood pressure (BP) control is assessed annually from patients on Renal Replacement Therapy at renal centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the UK Renal Registry. Methods: Patients alive and receiving RRT on 31st December 2007 with a BP reading in either the fourth or third quarter of 2007 were included. Summary statistics were calculated for each renal centre, nation and renal disease category. Linear regression analyses were performed for prevalent patients between 2000 and 2007. Results: Significantly more haemodialysis patients achieved the BP standard (44.6% pre-HD and 48.8% post-HD) than peritoneal dialysis (32.8%) or renal transplant patients (26.7%). Median BP fell significantly between 2000 and 2007 for each treatment modality. There was significant variability in BP control between renal centres (p < 0.0001) for haemodialysis and transplant patients. Hypertension was significantly more common in haemodialysis patients with vascular disorders such as diabetes and renovascular disease (56.8%) than in glomerulonephritis (51.0%) or tubular disorders (45.1%). The effect was less prominent in peritoneal dialysis and not evident in transplant patients where few achieved the BP standard. Conclusion: A minority of patients on RRT achieved BP standards in 2007. There remained a significant variation in achievement of standards between renal centres.

Survival and transplantation in end-stage renal disease: a prospective study of a multiethnic population

INTRODUCTION Accurate assessment of determinants of patient survival in end-stage renal disease is important for counselling, clinical management and resource planning. To address this we have analysed survival and risk factors for survival for patients treated for end-stage renal disease in a multi-ethnic UK population. METHODS A multicentre prospective observational cohort study was performed in four teaching hospital renal units serving a total population of four million people. A total of 884 consecutive patients treated with renal replacement therapy were studied. Cox proportional hazard modelling and adjusted survival curves were used to assess the impact of a range of variables on patients surviving dialysis for more than 90 days. Further analysis was undertaken to determine the likelihood of transplantation in different ethnic groups. RESULTS Survival was 29% after a mean and median follow up of 4.6 and 4.2 years, respectively. Factors associated with worse survival included the following: age; for each decade of life the relative risk (RR) of death was 1.52 (95% confidence intervals 1.41-1.65, p < 0.0001); comorbidity, one or two comorbid conditions, RR = 1.56 (95% CI 1.24-1.95, p < 0.001) and three or more comorbid conditions, RR = 2.34 (1.68-3.27, p < 0.001). Factors associated with better survival included the following: south-Asian ethnicity, RR = 0.6 (0.46-0.80, p < 0.001); renal transplantation, RR = 0.20 (95% CI 0.11-0.59, p < 0.0001) and glomerulonephritis as the primary renal disease, RR = 0.70 (0.50-0.97, p = 0.04). Factors associated with likelihood of transplantion were having a functioning fistula/peritoneal dialysis catheter at start of dialysis (RR 1.91, 95% CI 1.24-2.94, p = 0.003) and glomerulonephritis (RR 9.54, 95% CI 2.43-37.64, p = 0.001). Patients were less likely to receive if they were black (RR 0.10, 95% CI 0.02-0.34, p < 0.001), South Asian (RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.42-0.97, p = 0.037), diabetic (RR 0.06, 95% CI 0.01-0.23, p < 0.001) and had one or two comorbid conditions (RR 0.51, 95% CI 0.32-0.82, p = 0.06). Every decade increase in age was also associated with a lesser likelihood of transplantation (RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.49-0.61, p < 0.001). Discussion. Risk stratification at commencement of chronic dialysis may predict long-term survival in different patient groups. As expected ethnic minorities are less likely to receive a transplant and this should be addressed by the new waiting list prioritization. The better survival on dialysis in this population of patients with south-Asian ethnicity is unexplained and this requires further investigation.

UK Renal Registry 18th Annual Report 2015

The UK Renal Registry (UKRR) continues to provide a national source of NHS healthcare data on patients dependent on renal replacement therapy (RRT) across the four nations. Using electronic reporting and substantial integration across the 71 adult and 13 paediatric renal centres independent audit and analysis of dialysis and transplant activity and care across the UK is provided. The UKRR is part of the UK Renal Association and is funded directly by participating renal centres through an annual capitation fee per patient per annum, currently £19 or 0.01% of annual RRT running costs. The UKRR remains relatively unique amongst renal registries in publishing both centre-specific analyses of indicators of quality of care, such as haemoglobin and also ageadjusted survival statistics for each renal centre [1].

Chapter 11: Blood Pressure Profile of Prevalent Patients Receiving Dialysis in the UK in 2008: national and centre-specific analyses

Introduction: The UK Renal Registry (UKRR) assesses blood pressure (BP) control annually for patients receiving renal replacement therapy (RRT) at renal centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Methods: Patients alive and receiving RRT on 31st December 2008 with a BP reading in either the fourth or third quarter of 2008 were included. Summary statistics were calculated for each renal centre, nation and primary renal disease (PRD) category. Longitudinal analyses were performed to assess the long-term impact of treatment modality and PRD on BP control for incident and prevalent patients. Results: In 2008, only 26.3% of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 27.4% of transplant (Tx) patients achieved the Renal Association (RA) guidelines standard of BP <130/80 mmHg. Since the cessation of BP targets for haemodialysis (HD) patients, there has been a reduction (compared to 2007) in the number of HD patients achieving BP <130/80 mmHg. In 2008, 43.1% of patients achieved BP <140/90 mmHg pre-HD and 46.8% BP <130/ 80 mmHg post-HD. BP control varied significantly between renal centres for each treatment modality (p < 0.001). Adjusted mean systolic BP fell significantly during the first year on dialysis (6 mmHg for PD and 8 mmHg for HD). Hypertension was more common in HD patients with vascular disorders such as diabetes and renovascular disease (59.0%) than in patients with glomerulonephritis (51.9%) or tubular disorders (46.7%). Conclusions: In 2008, a minority of patients on RRT achieved the recommended BP standards. There remained a significant variation in achievement of standards between UK renal centres. Since the removal of specific BP targets for HD patients, there has been an increase in systolic BP pre-and post-HD. BP falls significantly during the first year after starting dialysis and patients with vascular disorders have significantly worse BP control.

UK Renal Registry 17th Annual Report: Chapter 8 Biochemical Variables amongst UK Adult Dialysis Patients in 2013: National and Centre-specific Analyses

INTRODUCTION The UK Renal Association clinical practice guidelines include clinical performance measures for biochemical variables in dialysis patients. The UK Renal Registry(UKRR) annually audits dialysis centre performance against these measures as part of its role in promoting continuous quality improvement. METHODS Cross sectional performance analyses were undertaken to compare dialysis centre achievement of clinical audit measures for prevalent haemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) cohorts in 2013. The biochemical variables studied were phosphate, adjusted calcium, parathyroid hormone and bicarbonate.In addition, longitudinal analyses were performed (2002–2013) to show changes in achievement of clinical performance measures over time. RESULTS Fifty-seven percent of HD and 62% of PD patients achieved a phosphate within the range recommended by the RA clinical practice guidelines. Seventy-eight percent of HD and of PD patients had adjusted calcium between 2.2–2.5 mmol/L. Fifty-seven percent of HD and 63% of PD patients had parathyroid hormone between 16–72 pmol/L. Fifty-nine percent of HD and 79% of PD patients achieved the audit measure for bicarbonate. There was significant inter-centre variation for all variables studied. CONCLUSIONS The UKRR consistently demonstrates significant inter-centre variation in achievement of biochemical clinical audit measures. Understanding the causes of this variation is an important part of improving the care of dialysis patients in the UK.

A Study of the Response of Elderly Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease to Epoetin Alfa or Beta

AbstractBackground: Anaemia correction in patients with end-stage renal disease has been enhanced following the use of epoetin alfa or beta and there are a number of studies detailing its application. Dialysis centres are dealing with greater numbers of elderly patients and anaemia correction in these individuals may differ by virtue of co-existing comorbidity and their age. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the response of the elderly patients to anaemia correction using a locally devised anaemia correction protocol while receiving dialysis. Methods: An incident, non-randomised, cohort observational study in a single centre was used to compare the correction of anaemia in a population of elderly (≥65 years of age) and young dialysis patients. All incident patients starting peritoneal dialysis and haemodialysis (HD) between January 1998 and December 2000 were selected and treated using a locally devised anaemia correction protocol and observed for at least 1 year. Anaemia correction following adjustments for factors such as age, comorbidity, dialysis type, dialysis access type and predialysis nephrological care was assessed. Results: 198 patients commenced dialysis with 86 elderly patients (mean age ± SD 73.7 ± 4.9 years). The elderly patients had similar periods of predialysis nephrological care as the younger patients. Most patients received HD and required a tunnelled dialysis catheter (TC) as vascular access. Equivalent numbers of elderly patients received peritoneal dialysis. Comorbid scores were greater in the elderly and patient survival was dependent upon these comorbid factors. Following the strict use of TCs, patient survival was similar to those patients commencing HD with arterio-venous fistulae.Anaemia correction in the elderly was similar to the younger patients, with a median haemoglobin of 11.3 g/dL. By 6 months of dialysis, most patients achieved the UK Renal Association anaemia correction standard (haemoglobin above10 g/dL). The elderly patients maintained significantly higher serum ferritin levels throughout (median 209 µg/L) and required less epoetin alfa or beta (median 91.6 units/kg/wk), indicating that functional iron deficiency in the elderly dialysis patients is less. Intravenous iron sucrose doses were similar in both age groups and iron overload (serum ferritin above 800 µg/L) had been avoided following the use of the intravenous iron protocol. Conclusion: The study has noted that elderly patients responded to anaemia corrective therapies as well as the younger patients, despite greater levels of comorbidity while requiring less epoetin alfa or beta.

UK Renal Registry 17th Annual Report: Appendix B Definitions and Analysis Criteria

The take-on population is defined as all patients over 18 who started renal replacement therapy (RRT) at UK renal centres and did not have a recovery lasting more than 90 days within 90 days of starting RRT. The treatment timeline is used to define take-on patients as follows. If a patient has timeline entries from more than one centre then these are all combined and sorted by date. Then, the first treatment entry gives the first date of when they received RRT. This is defined as a ‘start date’. However, in the following situations there is evidence that the patient was already receiving RRT before this ‘start date’ and these people are not classed as takeon patients:

Ischaemic monomelic neuropathy (IMN) following vascular access surgery for haemodialysis: an under-recognized complication in non-diabetics

Ischaemic monomelic neuropathy (IMN) is an infrequently recognized type of neuropathy, produced after acute arterial occlusion or reduced blood flow to an extremity. In the upper limb, it usually occurs after vascular access surgery for haemodialysis. IMN has been reported largely in diabetics with peripheral neuropathy and atherosclerotic vascular disease. We report a case of IMN following arteriovenous (AV) fistula formation in a patient with advanced chronic renal failure, who did not have diabetes mellitus and symptoms of peripheral neuropathy or features of atherosclerotic vascular disease. Symptoms improved immediately after the distal revascularization and interval ligation procedure to the AV fistula.

UK Renal Registry 15th Annual Report: Appendix A The UK Renal Registry Statement of Purpose

1. Executive summary 2. Introduction 3. Statement of intent 4. Relationships of the UK Renal Registry 5. The role of the UK Renal Registry for patients 6. The role of the UK Renal Registry for nephrologists 7. The role of the UK Renal Registry for Trust managers 8. The role of the UK Renal Registry for commissioning agencies 9. The role of the UK Renal Registry in national quality assurance schemes 10. References and websites

Appendix D: Methodology used for Analyses of PCT/ Local Authority Incidence and Prevalence Rates and of Standardised Ratios

The areas used were the 148 English primary care trusts (PCTs), the 4 English care trusts, the 22 Welsh local authorities, the 32 Scottish council areas and the 26 Northern Ireland district council areas – these different types of area are collectively called PCT/LAs here. In Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the health authority boundaries align with the LAs and these areas have been included along with the English PCTs in the tables.