Epidemiological studies consistently show an initial survival advantage for PD patients compared to HD. It has recently been suggested that this is due to the fact that many HD patients are referred ...late, and start dialysis on an acute, in-patient basis. The present study was performed to investigate (1) whether, and if so, how, PD and HD prognosis had changed in recent years, (2) whether a potential survival advantage of PD versus HD is constant over dialysis duration, and (3) whether differences in prognosis could be explained by patient age, renal diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy, or mode of dialysis initiation.
12095 patients starting dialysis therapy between 1990 and 2010 in Denmark were studied. Prognosis was assessed according to initial dialysis modality on an intention-to-treat basis, censored for transplantation. Results were adjusted for age, sex, renal diagnosis, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and mode of dialysis initiation.
Overall adjusted prognosis improved by 34% (HD 30%, PD 42%). PD prognosis relative to HD improved, and was 16% better at the end of the period. Final PD prognosis improved consistently from 1990-99 to 2000-10 in all subgroups. PD was associated with a significant initial survival advantage, both overall and for all subgroups For the latter cohort, overall PD prognosis was better than HD for the first 4 years, after which it was insignificantly worse. The initial survival advantage was also present in a subgroup analysis of patients with early & routine ESRD initiation.
Dialysis survival has increased during the past 20 years. PD survival since 2000 has been better than HD, overall and for all subgroups. The difference in survival is not explained by mode of dialysis initiation.
Large international differences exist in access to renal replacement therapy (RRT) modalities and comprehensive conservative management (CCM) for patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), ...suggesting that some patients are not receiving the most appropriate treatment. Previous studies mainly focused on barriers reported by patients or medical barriers (e.g. comorbidities) reported by nephrologists. An overview of the non-medical barriers reported by nephrologists when providing the most appropriate form of RRT (other than conventional in-centre haemodialysis) or CCM is lacking.
We searched in EMBASE and PubMed for original articles with a cross-sectional design (surveys, interviews or focus groups) published between January 2010 and September 2018. We included studies in which nephrologists reported barriers when providing RRT or CCM to adult patients with ESKD. We used the barriers and facilitators survey by Peters et al. Ruimte Voor Verandering? Knelpunten en Mogelijkheden Voor Verbeteringen in de Patiëntenzorg. Nijmegen: Afdeling Kwaliteit van zorg (WOK), 2003 as preliminary framework to create our own model and performed meta-ethnographic analysis of non-medical barriers in text, tables and figures.
Of the 5973 articles screened, 16 articles were included using surveys (n = 10), interviews (n = 5) and focus groups (n = 1). We categorized the barriers into three levels: patient level (e.g. attitude, role perception, motivation, knowledge and socio-cultural background), level of the healthcare professional (e.g. fears and concerns, working style, communication skills) and level of the healthcare system (e.g. financial barriers, supportive staff and practice organization).
Our systematic review has identified a number of modifiable, non-medical barriers that could be targeted by, for example, education and optimizing financing structure to improve access to RRT modalities and CCM.
Background
For 10 consecutive years, the ESPN/ERA-EDTA Registry has included data on children with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD 5) receiving kidney replacement therapy (KRT) in Europe. We ...examined trends in incidence and prevalence of KRT and patient survival.
Methods
We included all children aged <15 years starting KRT 2007–2016 in 22 European countries participating in the ESPN/ERA-EDTA Registry since 2007. General population statistics were derived from Eurostat. Incidence and prevalence were expressed per million age-related population (pmarp) and time trends studied with JoinPoint regression. We analyzed survival trends using Cox regression.
Results
Incidence of children commencing KRT <15 years remained stable over the study period, varying between 5.5 and 6.6 pmarp. Incidence by treatment modality was unchanged over time: 2.0 for hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 1.0 for transplantation. Prevalence increased in all age categories and overall rose 2% annually from 26.4 pmarp in 2007 to 32.1 pmarp in 2016. Kidney transplantation prevalence increased 5.1% annually 2007–2009, followed by 1.5% increase/year until 2016. Prevalence of PD steadily increased 1.4% per year over the entire period, and HD prevalence started increasing 6.1% per year from 2011 onwards. Five-year unadjusted patient survival on KRT was around 94% and similar for those initiating KRT 2007–2009 or 2010–2012 (adjusted HR: 0.98, 95% CI:0.71–1.35).
Conclusions
We found a stable incidence and increasing prevalence of European children on KRT 2007–2016. Five-year patient survival was good and was unchanged over time. These data can inform patients and healthcare providers and aid health policy makers on future resource planning of pediatric KRT in Europe.
It has been suggested that, in patients with CKD stage 5, measured GFR (mGFR), defined as the mean of urea and creatinine clearance, as measured by a 24-h urine collection, is a better measure of ...renal function than estimated GFR (eGFR), based on the CKD-EPI formula. This could be due to reduced muscle mass in this group. Its use is recommended in the ERBP guidelines. Unplanned dialysis initiation (DI) is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and reduced modality choice and is generally considered undesirable. We hypothesized that the ratio mGFR/eGFR (M/E) aids prediction of death and DI.
All 24-h measurements of urea and creatinine excretion were extracted from the clinical biochemistry databases in Zealand. Data concerning renal diagnosis, comorbidity, biochemistry, medical treatment, mortality and date of DI, were extracted from patient notes, the National Patient Registry and the Danish Nephrology Registry. Patients were included if their eGFR was < 30 ml/min/1.73m
. The last available value for each patient was included. Follow-up was 12 months.
One thousand two hundred sixty-five patients were included. M/E was median 0.91 ± 0.43. It was highly correlated to previous determinations. It was negatively correlated to eGFR, comorbidity, high age and female sex. It was positively related to albumin and negatively to C-reactive protein. M/E was higher in patients treated with ACE inhibitors and diuretics but no other treatment groups. On a multivariate analysis, M/E was negatively correlated with mortality and combined mortality/DI, but not DI. A post hoc analysis showed a negative correlation to DI at 3 months. For patients with an eGFR 10-15 ml/min/1.73m
, combined mortality and DI at 3 months was for low M/E (< 0.75) 36%, medium (0.75-1.25) 20%, high (> 1.25) 8%. A low M/E predicted increased need for unplanned DI. A supplementary analysis in 519 patients where body surface area values were available, allowing BSA-corrected M/E to be analyzed, revealed similar results.
A low mGFR/eGFR ratio is associated with comorbidity, malnutrition, and inflammation. It is a marker of early DI, mortality, and unplanned dialysis initiation, independently of eGFR, age and comorbidity. Particular attention paid to patients with a low M/E may lower the incidence of unplanned dialysis requirement.
This study examines the time trends in incidence, prevalence, patient and kidney allograft survival and causes of death (COD) in patients receiving renal replacement therapy (RRT) in Europe.
Eighteen ...national or regional renal registries providing data to the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry between 1998 and 2011 were included. Incidence and prevalence time trends between 2001 and 2011 were studied with Joinpoint and Poisson regression. Patient and kidney allograft survival and COD between 1998 and 2011 were analysed using Kaplan-Meier and competing risk methods and Cox regression.
From 2001 to 2008, the adjusted incidence of RRT rose by 1.1% (95% CI: 0.6, 1.7) annually to 131 per million population (pmp). During 2008-2011, the adjusted incidence fell by 2.2% (95% CI: -4.2, -0.2) annually to 125 pmp. This decline occurred predominantly in patients aged 45-64 years, 65-74 years and in the primary renal diseases diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2, renovascular disease and glomerulonephritis. Between 2001 and 2011, the overall adjusted prevalence increased from 724 to 1032 pmp (+3.3% annually, 95% CI: 2.8, 3.8). The adjusted 5-year patient survival on RRT improved between 1998-2002 and 2003-2007 adjusted hazard ratio (HRa) 0.85, 95% CI: 0.84, 0.86. Comparing these time periods, the risk of cardiovascular deaths fell by 25% (HRa 0.75, 95% CI: 0.74, 0.77). However the risk of malignant death rose by 9% (HRa 1.09, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.16) in patients ≥65 years.
This European study shows a declining RRT incidence, particularly in patients aged 45-64 years, 65-74 years and secondary to diabetic nephropathy. Encouragingly, the adjusted RRT patient survival continues to improve. The risk of cardiovascular death has decreased, though the risk of death from malignancy has increased in the older population.
Cardiovascular mortality is considered the main cause of death in patients receiving dialysis and is 10 to 20 times higher in such patients than in the general population.
To evaluate if high overall ...mortality in patients starting dialysis is a consequence of increased cardiovascular mortality risk only or whether noncardiovascular mortality is equally increased.
Using data from between January 1, 1994, and January 1, 2007, age-stratified mortality in a European cohort of adults starting dialysis and receiving follow-up for a mean of 1.8 (SD, 1.1) years (European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association ERA-EDTA Registry N = 123,407) was compared with the European general population (Eurostat).
Cause of death was recorded by ERA-EDTA codes in patients and matching International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes in the general population. Standardized cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality rates, their ratio, difference, and relative excess of cardiovascular over noncardiovascular mortality were calculated.
Overall all-cause mortality rates in patients and the general population were 192 per 1000 person-years (95% confidence interval CI, 190-193) and 12.055 per 1000 person-years (95% CI, 12.05-12.06), respectively. Cause of death was known for 90% of the patients and 99% of the general population. In patients, 16,654 deaths (39%) were cardiovascular and 21,654 (51%) were noncardiovascular. In the general population, 7,041,747 deaths (40%) were cardiovascular and 10,183,322 (58%) were noncardiovascular. Cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality rates in patients were respectively 38.1 per 1000 person-years (95% CI, 37.2-39.0) and 50.1 per 1000 person-years (95% CI, 48.9-51.2) higher than in the general population. On a relative scale, standardized cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality were respectively 8.8 (95% CI, 8.6-9.0) and 8.1 (95% CI, 7.9-8.3) times higher than in the general population. The ratio of these rates, ie, relative excess of cardiovascular over noncardiovascular mortality in patients starting dialysis compared with the general population, was 1.09 (95% CI, 1.06-1.12). Relative excess in a sensitivity analysis in which unknown/missing causes of death were regarded either as noncardiovascular or cardiovascular varied between 0.90 (95% CI, 0.88-0.93) and 1.39 (95% CI, 1.35-1.43).
Patients starting dialysis have a generally increased risk of death that is not specifically caused by excess cardiovascular mortality.
Background. The influence of dialysis modality on prognosis is controversial. In the absence of randomized trials, epidemiological investigations present the best method for studying the problem. ...Methods. 4568 haemodialysis (HD) and 2443 peritoneal dialysis (PD) records in 4921 dialysis patients treated between 1990 and 1999 were retrieved from the Danish Terminal Uremia register in order to determine the influence of dialysis form on prognosis. The register is national, comprehensive, and incident. Results. Factors reducing survival included age, cardiovascular disease, malignancy, lung disease, diabetes, alcoholism, haematological disease, but not sex or hypertension. Transplant non‐candidacy was associated with an adjusted relative risk of 4.7 (CI 4.0–5.6). PD mortality relative to HD (after correction for comorbidity and transplant candidacy) was 0.65 (CI 0.59–0.72, P<0.001) on an ‘as treated’ and ‘history’ analysis and 0.86 (CI 0.78–0.95, P<0.01) on an intention‐to‐treat (ITT) analysis. The difference was confined to the first 2 years of dialysis. Change in dialysis modality was associated with increased mortality, and change from PD to HD with an accelerated mortality for the first 6 months. This was presumably due to the transfer of sick PD patients, but did not explain the difference. The relative advantage of PD was lower for diabetic patients, where it was not significant on ITT analysis. Dialysis prognosis improved by 14% during the period, with similar results for HD and PD patients. PD patients who were subsequently transplanted had a significantly shorter time to onset of graft function (3.5 vs 5.1 days, P<0.05). Conclusions. These results show a survival advantage for PD during the first 2 years of dialysis treatment. This may be due to unregistered differences in comorbidity at the start of treatment, or may be causal, possibly due to better preservation of residual renal function. The study lends credence to the ‘integrative care’ approach to uraemia, where patients are started on PD and transferred to HD when PD related mortality increases.
The use of plasma exchange (PE) for induction treatment of anti-neutrophil cytoplasm autoantibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV), including Wegener's granulomatosis (WG), is still controversial. ...The use of PE in AAV is not commonly accepted in patients with a plasma creatinine <500 μmol/L (5.7 mg/dL) despite experimental support for involvement of ANCA in the pathogenesis of vasculitis.
In a single-centre study from a tertiary referral centre, 32 patients with ANCA-positive WG were treated with standard immunosuppressive therapy, prednisolone and cyclophosphamide (CYC). In addition, they were randomized to treatment with or without initial PE. After 3 months, they were further randomized in a Latin square design to continue CYC or to change to cyclosporine A (CyA) for 9 months. The renal follow-up was at least 5 years.
Renal survival after 1, 3 and 12 months, and 5 years was significantly better in the PE groups. For all groups, the kidney/patient survival was 87.5%/93.7% at 1 year and 72%/56% at 5 years. All patients who were on dialysis when recruited were dialysis dependent 5 years later. There was no difference in morbidity or mortality between PE and control groups. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that PE improved renal survival (P < 0.01) at initial plasma creatinine levels >250 µmol/L (2.85 mg/dL). Change from CYC to CyA did not influence rate of relapses or time to relapse.
PE is recommended for induction therapy in WG patients at creatinine levels >250 µmol/L (2.85 mg/dL), whereas previous randomized studies have limited PE to patients with creatinine >500 µmol/L (5.65 mg/dL).
The number of elderly patients on maintenance dialysis has rapidly increased in the past few decades, particularly in developed countries, imposing a growing burden on dialysis centres. Hence, many ...nephrologists and healthcare authorities feel that greater emphasis should be placed on the promotion of home dialysis therapies such as peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home haemodialysis (HD). There is currently no general consensus as to the best dialysis modality for elderly patients with end-stage renal disease. In-centre HD is predominant in most countries, although it is widely recognized that PD has several advantages over HD, including the lack of need for vascular access, continuous slow ultrafiltration, less interference with patients' lifestyle and lower costs. Comparisons of outcomes between elderly patients on PD and HD rely on observational studies, as randomized controlled trials are lacking. The results of these studies are variable. However, most of them suggest that survival rates are largely similar between the two modalities, except for elderly patients with diabetes and/or beyond 1-3 years from dialysis initiation, in which cases HD appears to be superior. An equally important aspect to consider when choosing dialysis modality, particularly in this age group, is the quality of life, and in this regard most studies found no significant differences between PD and HD. In these circumstances, we believe that dialysis modality selection should be guided by patient's preference, based on comprehensive and unbiased information. A multidisciplinary team should review elderly patients starting on dialysis, aiming to identify possible barriers to PD and home HD, including physical, visual, cognitive, psychological and social problems, and to overcome such barriers by adequate care, education, psychological counselling and dialysis assistance.
Hyperphosphatemia in patients with renal failure is associated with increased vascular calcification and mortality. Hemodialysis is a conventional treatment for patients with hyperphosphatemia. ...Phosphate kinetics during hemodialysis may be described by a diffusion process and modeled by ordinary differential equations. We propose a Bayesian model approach for estimating patient-specific parameters for phosphate kinetics during hemodialysis. The Bayesian approach allows us to both analyze the full parameter space using uncertainty quantification and to compare two types of hemodialysis treatments, the conventional single-pass and the novel multiple-pass treatment. We validate and test our models on synthetic and real data. The results show limited identifiability of the model parameters when only single-pass data are available, and that the Bayesian model greatly reduces the relative standard deviation compared to existing estimates. Moreover, the analysis of the Bayesian models reveal improved estimates with reduced uncertainty when considering consecutive sessions and multiple-pass treatment compared to single-pass treatment.
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