This study aimed at evaluating the possible relationship between anorexia and fatigue in hemodialysis (HD) patients and at measuring the plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in HD patients with or without anorexia and/or fatigue. The first question of the Hemodialysis Study Appetite questionnaire was used to ...

While chronic dialysis treatment has been suggested to increase pulmonary pressure values, right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) is a major cause of death in patients with end-stage renal disease. We investigated the impact of different dialysis treatments on right ventricular function. We examined 220 subjects grouped as follows: healthy controls (n ...

To explore the efficacy of oral N-acetylcysteine (NAC) supplementation for anemia and oxidative stress in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Of the eligible patients (n = 325) in an outpatient HD unit, 49 received NAC 200 mg orally thrice a day during the first 3 months, while the other 276 patients not ...

BACKGROUND: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) belong to uremic toxins and some pathological effects of AGEs are linked to RAGE (receptor for AGEs). Their precursors are detoxified by the glyoxalase (GLO) system. The A419C (E111A) polymorphism of the GLO I gene is associated with vascular disease in hemodialysis (HD) patients ...

To investigate the effects of hemodialysis (HD) and periotoneal dialysis (PD) on oxidative stress in chronic renal failure patients (CRF). 20 HD patients (M/F: 8/12, 36 ± 12 years) and 20 PD patients (M/F: 10/10, 40 ± 8 years) were compared with 20 end stage renal failure patients (CRF) (M/F: ...

Cystatin C could be a relevant residual glomerular filtration rate marker during hemodialysis (HD), and a high cytokine plasma (p) rate is associated with an increase in mortality during sepsis. To the best of our knowledge, cytokines and cystatin C kinetics during and after HD during sepsis have never been ...

Chronic fluid overload due to overestimation of dry weight (DW) is the major factor in the development of hypertension in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether bioimpedance ratio in the calf (Calf-BR = impedance at 200 kHz/impedance at 5 kHz) could be a useful hydration ...

Arterial stiffness determined by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) has been established as a powerful predictor of cardiovascular mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. There are, however, few studies regarding the comparative impact of different renal replacement therapies (RRTs) on PWV. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study to compare arterial wall ...

The very high cardiovascular (CV) mortality and morbidity rates in hemodialysis (HD) patients are greatly related to atherosclerosis. CCN2 (connective tissue growth factor/CTGF) is a profibrotic factor that is secreted by endothelial cells, involved in atherogenesis, promoting fibroblast proliferation and matrix production. CCN2 protein is significantly increased in complicated fibrous ...

This study explores the relationship between mortality and late presentation for dialysis, focusing on the role of catheter access for hemodialysis (HD). We analyzed data from a cohort of 286 patients commencing dialysis in 2000-2001. Survival and factors associated with death were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis. Dialysis access ...

The role of decreased active vitamin D levels on vascular calcification has not been elucidated in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between progression of aortic arch calcification (AoAC) and prescribed dose of 1alpha-hydroxy vitamin D. The enrolled study subjects were 65 ...

Appropriate management of moyamoya syndrome associated with Graves' disease is undetermined because of the rarity of this combination. Patients tend to present with cerebrovascular events such as transient ischemic attack (TIA) in a thyrotoxic state, which is relieved by proper antithyroid therapy. Four patients with moyamoya syndrome associated with Graves' ...

The UK Renal Association (RA) and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) have published Clinical Practice Guidelines which include recommendations for management of anaemia in established renal failure. Aims: To determine the extent to which the guidelines for anaemia management are met in the UK. Quarterly data (haemoglobin ...

Our Thyroid-Multidisciplinary Clinic is a large referral site for thyroid diseases. Thyroid biopsies are mainly performed for thyroid cancer screening. Yet, Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) is being too frequently diagnosed. The prevalence of HT is reported as 0.3-1.2% or twice the prevalence of type 1 diabetes. However, the prevalence of HT ...

In this cross-sectional study, selenium (Se) levels in the sera of 35 hemodialysis (HD) patients and 34 patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) for more than 3 months were compared with the serum Se levels of 34 healthy volunteers. The observed Se levels of 100.8 ± 51.9 µg/L in the sera of the ...

BACKGROUND: The major determinants of pulse wave velocity (PWV) in haemodialysis (HD) patients are not fully known. We studied chronic HD patients to assess the effect of cyclic variations in both hydration status and blood pressure on PWV. METHODS: Twenty patients were examined along three consecutive HD sessions and interdialysis ...

We assessed the effect of hemodialysis (HD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) on the serum levels of metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), MMP-9 and metalloproteinase tissue inhibitors (TIMP-1) and TIMP-2. 18 patients on regular HD treatment with low-flux, cuprophane membrane, 15 non-dialyzed patients with CKD and 15 healthy controls were sampled. The serum ...

Amiodarone is an iodine rich agent widely used for the treatment of ventricular arrhythmias, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation and flutter. However 14-18% of patients treated with amiodarone develop overt thyroid dysfunction in the form of either amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) or amiodaroneinduced hypothyroidism (AIH). Two different types of AIT have ...

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is leading cause of death in patients on renal replacement therapy. Increased concentration of fibrinogen, dyslipidemia, and impaired fibrinolysis are regarded as important risk factors for CVD. Intima media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery is related to coronary and cerebrovascular arterial disease. Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis ...

Sleep disturbances are very prevalent in Huntington's disease (HD) patients and can substantially impair their quality of life. Accumulating evidence suggests considerable dysfunction of the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the biological clock, in both HD patients and transgenic mouse models of the disease. As melatonin has a major role in ...

Homocysteine is considered as independent predictor of cardiovascular risk. Patients treated with haemodialysis (HD) exhibit elevated homocysteine levels, even four times higher than the general population does. This study focuses on the determination of the vascular risk in patients treated with conventional HD and haemodiafiltration on-line (HDF). It was also ...

PURPOSE: The impact of different dialysis modalities on oxidative stress and inflammation and the factors implicated in this interrelationship have not been adequately studied. This study was designed to comparatively evaluate the effect of hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) on oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers and to search for ...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this analysis was to quantify haemoglobin (Hb) variability in patients receiving haemodialysis (HD) and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) treatment from data independently collected in two different geographical settings. STUDY DESIGN, SETTINGS AND PATIENTS: Two studies retrospectively reviewed patients undergoing HD and stable ESA treatment at centres in ...

Hypertension confers higher cardiovascular (CV) risks in hemodialysis (HD) patients. There are no data to guide the level to which BP should be reduced or when and where to measure BP in such patients. Unlike BP guidelines to reduce CV risk in the general population, no uniform guidelines address the ...

BACKGROUND: Patients on conventional hemodialysis (HD) have elevated markers of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation, which may contribute to a high prevalence of cardiovascular disease. Glutathione (GSH), an important intracellular antioxidant, requires cysteine as a rate-limiting amino acid for its synthesis and riboflavin for its regeneration. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to ...

Removal of beta2-microglobulin (beta2M) can be increased by adding convective transport to hemodialysis (HD). The aim of this study was to investigate the change in beta2M levels after 6-mo treatment with hemodiafiltration (HDF) and to evaluate the role of residual kidney function (RKF) and the amount of convective volume with ...

Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The baroreflex arc is under autonomic control and regulates blood pressure. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of impaired baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) to the pathophysiology of IDH. Thirty-four chronic HD (12 IDH-prone, 22 IDH-resistant) ...

PURPOSE: Hirschsprung's disease (HD) is usually diagnosed in patients who are under 1 year of age, however, there are still several reports of adult HD cases. We herein analyzed the data of HD patients collected over 30 years according to a nationwide survey in Japan. METHODS: The data of HD ...

Anticoagulation in hemodialysis (HD) patients with high risk of bleeding is still an intractable problem. A total of 80 HD sessions with high risk of bleeding were completed with either heparin-free (HF) or low dose of argatroban saline flushes (LASF) anticoagulation. Clinical clot formation in the pipeline and dialyzer was ...

BACKGROUND: High pulse wave velocity (PWV) and a low ankle-brachial index (ABI) are associated with mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Recently, the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was developed as a novel index of arterial stiffness independent of blood pressure. METHODS: We compared brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV), the ABI and the CAVI ...

The aim of the study was to assess the factors potentially involved in coronary artery calcifications (CAC) in end-stage renal disease patients. 253 hemodialysis (HD) patients (92 females, 161 males), aged 62.5 +/- 13.5, who had been on HD treatment for at least 6 months, were enrolled in a cross-sectional ...

BACKGROUND: Dry weight assessment (DWA) is essential to efficient therapy of haemodialysis (HD) patients. However, so far objective methods for DWA have not been applicable to daily routine. Thus, exact fluid management in HD remains difficult and is often based on clinical criteria. The aims of this study were (1) ...

Combined hyperative dysfunction syndrome (HDS) defined as the combination of HDSs such as trigeminal neuralgia (TN), hemifacial spasm (HFS) and glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN), which may or may not occur simultaneously on one or both sides. We reviewed patients with combined HDS and demonstrated their demographic characteristics by comparing them with ...

While anemia is common in patients on chronic hemodialysis (HD), spontaneous erythrocytosis is rare and can be caused by either the same conditions causing erythrocytosis in the general population or any condition specific to chronic renal failure. We present a patient illustrating this latter circumstance. A 53-year-old man with diabetic ...

Hodgkin's disease (HD) is a malignant lymphoma with frequent mediastinal involvement, characterized by a significant inflammatory infiltration. Exhaled nitric oxide (FENO), is present in healthy humans, and has been proven to be increased in eosinophilic diseases such as allergic asthma. We investigated whether FENO is increased in mediastinal HD and ...

Outpatient hemodialysis therapy (HD) can be associated with hemodynamic compromise. Bioreactance has recently been shown to provide accurate, noninvasive, continuous, measurements of cardiac output (CO) and thoracic impedance (Zo) from which thoracic fluid content (TFC) can be derived assuming TFC=1000/Zo. This study was designed to evaluate the changes in TFC ...

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed prealbumin in hemodialysis (HD) and renal-transplant (RT) patients, and compared it with other biochemical and anthropometric markers, clinical conditions, and treatment variables. DESIGN: We used a research design. PATIENTS: Serum prealbumin was measured in 84 HD patients with a mean age of 60.47 +/- 17.81 years ...

CD14 is a key molecule in innate immunity that mediates cell activation and signaling in response to endotoxin and other bacterial wall-derived components. CD14 protein exists in soluble (sCD14) and membrane-bound forms. The correlates of sCD14 in persons undergoing long-term hemodialysis (HD) therapy are not known. We hypothesized that increased ...

PROJECT: Oxidative stress (OS) is enhanced in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Lipid peroxidation and oxidative damage to glycids, proteins and nucleic acids are the main consequences of OS and are associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Vitamin E and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) represent the main antioxidant systems in human cells. Selenium (Se), ...

BACKGROUND: The etiology of Hirschsprung's disease associated enterocolitis (HAEC) is unknown. Previous investigations have suggested that several factors such as dilation of proximal bowel, changes in colonic mucosal defence, and overgrowth of toxigenic bacteria may be related with it. This study was to quantify bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in the feces ...

BACKGROUND: Numbers of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) have been shown to be decreased in subjects with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). It is not clear, however, whether dialysis modality affects circulating EPCs in ESRD subjects. METHODS: We examined the number of circulating EPCs in 67 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients ...

PURPOSE: The mechanisms involved in the appearance of a second neoplasia in patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) are probably related to the genomic damage induced by the treatments administered and its repair. Here, we searched for some constitutive molecular mechanisms that in a basal manner may influence the behavior of ...

Vascular access thrombosis (VAT) is a major cause of morbidity in chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients and is characterized by chronic inflammation. Pulse pressure (PP) is positively associated with chronic inflammation. Whether patients with high PP are at a higher risk for VAT, however, remains unknown. We retrospectively reviewed chronic HD ...

BACKGROUND: Accurate measurement of the international normalized ratio (INR) may be difficult in hemodialysis (HD) patients with heparin-locked central catheters. Blood contamination with locking solutions may interfere with INR measurement when samples are collected directly from the catheter. METHODS: The aim of our study was to evaluate a novel sampling ...

Background/Aims: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients have an increased risk of atherosclerotic complications. In both hemodialysis (HD) patients and the general population, it has become evident that inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic complications. Oral and dental problems in ESRD patients could be an important source ...

BACKGROUND: The enteric ganglions and the outflow tract of the heart originate from the neural crest. Impaired migration or differentiation of the neural crest cells causes Hirschsprung's disease (HD) and results in the development of cardiac outflow tract malformations. We hypothesize that the incidence of HD and bowel disorders associated ...

OBJECTIVES: Metformin-associated lactic acidosis is a rare and serious complication of biguanide treatment. It usually occurs when a precipitating disease induces an acute renal failure and an incidental overdose. Voluntary intoxication is rare. Bicarbonate hemodialysis (HD) is recommended to decrease metformin levels and correct acidosis but its optimal duration has ...

It has been suggested that phosphate binders may reduce the inflammatory state of hemodialysis (HD) patients. However, it is not clear whether it has any effect on oxidative stress. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sevelamer hydrochloride (SH) and calcium acetate (CA) on oxidative stress ...

Hyperkalemia is exacerbated by angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I). Distal potassium (K(+)) secretion is negligible in anuric patients. ACE-I therapy may reduce renal, peritoneal, and colonic K(+) losses. We examined the effect of ACE-I therapy on serum, urinary, and dialysate K(+) in a cross-section of peritoneal and hemodialysis patients. Serum, ...

The frontal assessment battery (FAB) is a bedside cognitive scale designed to measure executive functions. Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor, behavioral, and cognitive dysfunction. The aim of this study was to check the validity of the FAB for the evaluation of cognitive impairment in patients ...