Marta Neves

Severe acute kidney injury and multiple myeloma: Evaluation of kidney and patient prognostic factors

BACKGROUND Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) manifesting acute kidney injury (AKI) and who later recover renal function and independence from renal replacement therapy (RRT) are considered to have a better outcome. The aim of this work was to study the factors associated with renal function recovery (independence of hemodialysis) and longer survival in these patients. METHODS A retrospective single center study including patients with a diagnosis of MM and severe AKI, defined as stage 3 of the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria: 3.0 times baseline increase in serum creatinine (sCr) or increase in sCr to ≥4.0mg/dL or initiation of RRT, was conducted. Data was registry-based and collected between January 2000 and December 2011. We examined demographic and laboratorial data, presenting clinical features, precipitating factors, need for RRT and chemotherapy. Death was considered the primary endpoint. RESULTS Lower serum β2-microglobulin was the only independent factor associated with recovery of renal function and independence of RRT (OR 0.95, 95% CI: 0.91-0.99, P=0.02). The median survival after AKI was 10.7±12.1months. The factors associated with longer survival were independence of RRT (HR 2.21; 95% CI: 1.08-4.49; P=0.02), lower CRP (HR 1.07; 95% CI: 1.03-1.12; P=0.001) and younger age (HR 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01-1.06; P=0.005). CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that MM patients with lower serum β2-microglobulin have a higher likelihood of recovering renal function after severe AKI. Independence of RRT, lower CRP and younger age are associated with longer survival.

Uncommon Cause of Chest Pain in a Renal Transplantation Patient With Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease: A Case Report

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a common cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and, because of its intrinsic systemic involvement, its treatment can be a medical and surgical challenge. This condition is often associated with the presence of hepatic cysts and their prevalence generally increases with age. Most patients remain asymptomatic, but some of these will develop complications associated with enlargement and infection of their cysts. Chest pain is a rare manifestation of these complications and, after exclusion of more common cardiovascular and pulmonary causes, should raise the suspicion of an infected hepatic cyst in these patients. We report the case of a 62-year-old male who underwent a kidney transplantation from a cadaveric donor in 1997 (etiology of the ESRD was ADPKD), and was admitted to the emergency department with complaints of chest pain radiating to both shoulders and the interscapular region. An echocardiogram was showed compression of the right atrium by a large liver cyst without associated ventricular dysfunction. Computer tomography-guided drainage of the cyst was performed and an Enterobacter aerogenes sensitive to carbamapenemes was isolated from respective cultures. The patient presented a favorable clinical outcome with prolonged administration of antibiotic therapy according to the antibiotic susceptibility testing. There was no need for surgical intervention.

Acute kidney injury in major abdominal surgery: incidence, risk factors, pathogenesis and outcomes

AbstractAcute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. Various recent studies using modern standardized classifications for AKI reported a variable incidence of AKI after major abdominal surgery ranging from 3 to 35%. Several patient-related, procedure-related factors and postoperative complications were identified as risk factors for AKI in this setting. AKI following major abdominal surgery has been shown to be associated with poor short- and long-term outcomes. Herein, we provide a contemporary and critical review of AKI after major abdominal surgery focusing on its incidence, risk factors, pathogeny and outcomes.

Serum lactates and acute kidney injury in patients with sepsis: A cohort analysis

Abstract Granting the association of lactates with mortality has been largely documented in critically ill patients with sepsis, its association with the development of acute kidney injury (AKI) in this setting is not well established. We aimed to analyze the association of serum lactates at intensive care unit (ICU) admission with the occurrence AKI in a cohort of critically ill septic patients. Materials and methods: This study is retrospective including 457 adult patients with sepsis admitted to the Division of Intensive Medicine of the Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte (Lisbon, Portugal) between January 2008 and December 2014. The Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) classification was used to diagnose and classify patients developing AKI within the first week of hospitalization. Logistic regression analysis was employed to determine factors associated with AKI development. Data were expressed as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Statistical significance was defined as a p-value < 0.05. Results: AKI occurred in 87.5% of patients with a maximum KDIGO category (19.5% with stage 1, 22.6% with stage 2 and 45.4% with stage 3). Serum lactates were higher among patients developing AKI as compared with non-AKI patients (mmol/L 29.9 ± 25.7 vs. 18.6 ± 9.3, p = 0.001; unadjusted OR 1.04 (95% CI 1.02–1.07), p = 0.001; adjusted OR 1.03 (95% CI 1.01–1.06), p = 0.024), and they were progressively higher in accordance with AKI severity (stage 1, 24.5 ± 18.7; stage 2, 25.5 ± 16.9; stage 3, 34.6 ± 30.7; p = 0.001). Conclusions: Serum lactates at ICU admission were independently associated with the occurrence of AKI in critically ill patients with sepsis.

How Accurate Are We in Sending Patients to Angiography

Physical examination (PE), and surveillance and monitoring techniques should be a core part of standard care provided to hemodialysis patients. This study aimed to define which referral criteria within a vascular access (VA) program were associated with indication for therapeutic endovascular intervention (EI). Retrospective study at two vascular centers, considering 1265 procedures between 1 November 2012 and 30 November 2013. All 617 arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) and 648 arteriovenous grafts (AVGs) referred for angiography were enrolled. Each population was divided into two groups regarding absence (group 1) or presence (group 2) of a significant lesion on the angiogram, contemplating formal indication for EI. On multivariate analysis, factors independently associated with presence of a significant lesion in AVFs were referral due to increased dynamic venous pressure (p = 0.01), suspected stenosis by abnormal PE (p = 0.019), confirmed reduction in access flow rate (p = 0.003), and mean Kt/V < 1.4 (p = 0.004). In AVGs, although multivariate analysis did not find independent association of studied factors with presence of significant stenoses, 97.2% of the exams revealed relevant lesions previously suspected clinically. Aside from surveillance strategies, monitoring strategies including routine PE of the VA are imperative as an integral part of evaluation, especially in AVFs.

Cardiovascular risk in peritoneal dialysis: a Portuguese multicenter study

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the major cause of mortality in patients undergoing renal replacement therapy. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the CV risk profile and prevalence of CV disease in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) in Portugal. The secondary goal was to establish parameters most associated with CV disease. METHODS Retrospective, multicenter study of the prevalent adult population on PD. Six hundred patients were included (56.7% male; mean age 53.5 ± 15.3 years), on PD for 25.6 ± 21.9 months. Patients were divided into two groups: group 1 (n=166) with CV disease and group 2 (n=434) without CV disease. Comparisons were made regarding traditional CV risk factors and those associated with uremia and PD itself, and a multivariate analysis was performed to determine variables independently associated with CV disease. RESULTS At the end of the study, the prevalence of CV disease was 28%. At univariate analysis, group 1 presented a higher frequency of males (p<.01), older patients (p<.01), diabetics (p<.01), occurrence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (p<.01), mean C-reactive protein (CRP) (p=.04), lower mean parathormone level (p=.014), lower serum phosphorus (p=.02), lower daily urine output (p=.04), lower weekly Kt/V (p=.008), increased use of icodextrin and hypertonic glucose-based PD solutions (p<.001 and p=.006, respectively) and more were under continuous ambulatory PD (CAPD) (p=.014) and had a high peritoneal transport status (p=.02). Multivariate analysis provided a significant discriminatory influence pertaining to age >50 years, CRP>0.6 mg/dl, male gender, diabetes, LVH, CAPD and anuria, when comparing group 1 and group 2. CONCLUSIONS Risk factors most related to the development of CV disease in PD in Portugal are age >50 years, CRP>0.6 mg/dL, male gender, diabetes, LVH, CAPD and anuria.

Acute kidney injury in an internal medicine ward in a Portuguese quaternary hospital

BACKGROUND The term acute kidney injury (AKI) was proposed to reflect the wide spectrum of traditional acute renal failure. RIFLE classification stratifies AKI into three classes of severity and two classes of outcome. AKIN classification proposes an improvement regarding RIFLE in the stratification of AKI, while recently published KDIGO guidelines comprise characteristics of both RIFLE and AKIN. There are no published studies on the utility and measure of agreement between classifications in patients admitted to internal medicine wards. METHODS Prospective study undertaken in two internal medicine wards in a Portuguese hospital. Patients admitted for a minimum of 72 h, with a diagnosis of AKI or acute-on-chronic kidney disease at admission or during hospitalisation, were included. RIFLE, AKIN and KDIGO criteria were applied for identification of AKI and stratification into risk groups. RESULTS Sixty-nine patients were included, with a mean age of 79.7±10.0 years and mean GFR of 21.7±8.8 mL/min/1.73 m2. Hypovolaemia due to dehydration was the main cause of AKI (53.6%) and, thereby, RIFLE classification identified a higher number of patients as having AKI, compared to AKIN (94.2% vs. 84.1%). Most patients (69.6%) recovered to their baseline renal function, however fifteen patients (21.7%) died, 53.3% presenting more severe kidney disease. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate good concordance and correlation between RIFLE, AKIN and KDIGO criteria for the diagnosis of AKI (p<0.001 at initial and final assessment). The authors support the need for further improvement of the classification, ultimately through the use of new biomarkers capable of earlier identification of patients at risk.

Predictive factors of recurrent endovascular intervention for cephalic arch stenosis after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty

Objective Cephalic arch stenosis (CAS) is an important and recurring problem arising in hemodialysis patients because of the requirement for repeated interventions to maintain patency. The aim of this study was to determine predictive factors for recurrence of CAS after successful angioplasty. Methods A retrospective, case‐control study was conducted at two ambulatory vascular access (VA) centers. All patients with a dysfunctional VA referred for an angiographic procedure and with a documented CAS as evidenced during the endovascular intervention (EI) between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2015, were enrolled; 15 patients in whom an efficacious intervention was not possible were excluded. The study thus concerned 375 EIs using percutaneous transluminal angioplasty without stent placement on 241 VAs for CAS (9% of all procedures performed) during a 3‐year period. Patients were compared regarding the absence (group 1; n = 181) or presence (group 2; n = 60) of recurrent CAS. We defined recurrence as that which occurred within 180 days of the previous successful EI for CAS. Any CAS diagnosed and treated >180 days after a previous one was considered a novel CAS and not a recurrence. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine variables independently associated with recurrence of CAS. Kaplan‐Meier analysis was performed for determination of primary and assisted primary patency in this population. Results The recurrence rate of CAS was high (25%). Patients in both groups had similar demographic characteristics, time on hemodialysis, and mean dialysis dose and access flow rate at referral (P > .05). Multivariate analysis provided a significant discriminatory influence pertaining to diabetes (hazard ratio [HR], 2.054; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22‐3.46; P = .007), residual stenosis even though it was <30% (HR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.005‐3.439; P = .048), and the finding of an isolated CAS lesion (HR, 0.445; 95% CI, 0.219‐0.905; P = .025) in comparing group 1 and group 2. All other variables lost statistical significance on multivariate analysis. Primary patency at 6 months was 72%, increasing to an assisted primary patency of 89% at 6 months. The median durations of primary patency and assisted primary patency were 9.5 months and 15.6 months, respectively. Conclusions Multivariate analysis showed that diabetes and residual stenosis (albeit <30%) were predictive of recurrence, whereas the finding of an isolated CAS lesion as opposed to stenoses in multiple locations was shown to be negatively associated with recurrent CAS, appearing to be “protective”.

Impact of Conversion From Advagraf to Twice-Daily Generic Tacrolimus in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Single-Center Study—A 3-Year Follow-Up

Tacrolimus is a key immunosuppression drug in solid organ transplantation with a narrow therapeutic index. Twice-daily brand tacrolimus Prograf to once-daily brand tacrolimus Advagraf conversion was proven to be safe as was Prograf to twice-daily generic tacrolimus (Sandoz). Our group previously published the first study comparing the clinical outcomes of renal transplant patients switched from Advagraf to generic tacrolimus with good results at 9-month follow-up. We sought to find if the conversion was still considered safe at 36 months. We included patients with stable renal function, serum creatinine less than 2.0mg/dL, transplanted for 6months or longer. Tacrolimus conversion was performed on a 1 mg:1 mg basis. Thereafter, doses were adjusted to maintain target trough levels between 5 and 10 ng/mL. Our main endpoints were patient and graft survival at 12, 24, and 36months. Secondary endpoints included evolution of serum creatinine

Diabetes, deafness and renal disease

Abstract Deafness, kidney disease and diabetes are not a usual association, neither is a family history of these diseases. We present the case of a 47-year-old woman with non-nephrotic proteinuria, no haematuria, normal renal function, sensorineural hearing loss, recently diagnosed diabetes and maculopathy. There was a maternal family history of deafness, diabetes and renal disease. Renal biopsy revealed focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), leading to the pursuit of an m.3243A > G mitochondrial mutation and diagnosis of maternally inherited diabetes and deafness. The association of FSGS with mitochondrial diseases is not well known among nephrologists. Its timely diagnosis is important to avoid exposure to ineffective and unnecessary immunosuppression.