Patients' Referral Pattern and Dialysis Initiation Practice: Single Center Experience / 대한신장학회잡지

Despite improvements in dialysis care, the mortality of patients with end-stage renal disease(ESRD) remains high. One factor that has so far received little attention, but which might contribute to morbidity and mortality, is the timing of referral to the nephrologist. We performed a retrospective analysis in 358 patients(male 275, female 151) who were initiated renal replacement therapy first at this hospital from Jan 1995 to Dec 1996. Patients were defined by the time of first nephrology as early referral(E, n=163) encountered after more than 8 weeks; late early referral(LE, n=19) encountered between 8 weeks and 4 weeks; late referral(L, n=55) encountered from 1 week to 4 weeks; urgent referral(U, n= 121) encountered less than 1 week. There were no differences in age, gender, primary renal disease, cause of dialysis, and renal replacement therapy modalities. However, there were significant differences in rnean arterial pressure and serum phosphate levels between these 4 groups. The mean arterial pressures (mmHg) were 109.15 +/- 17.16, 105.37+/-18.76, 117.24 +/- 27.24 and 116.98+/-24.26 for E, LE, L and U, respectively(p0.05). In the E group, there was more controlled blood pressure and serum phosphate levels compared to the U group at initiation of renal replacement therapy, but other parameters were not significantly different among the 4 groups. Delays in initiation of renal replacement therapy may result in patients entering dialysis in a compromised state, therefore adequate long-term predialysis care by a nephrologist is important. Socioeconomic - and medical factors respon-sible for late referral and late initiation of dialysis need to be evaluated and corrected to further improve the outcome of these patients.

Nutritional Status of Long-term CAPD Patients-Impact of Peritoneal Transport Characteristics / 대한신장학회잡지

Protein-calorie malnutrition is common in CAPD patients and is associated with increase in morbidity and mortality in CAPD patients. There are many causes of malnutrition in CAPD patients, and it is well known that a large amount of protein losses through peritoneal membrane is one of them. To investigate the effect of the peritoneal membrane transport characteristics on the nutritional status in long-term CAPD patients, we conducted a cross- sectional study on clinically stable 115 patients (63 males and 52 females) who have been on CAPD for more than 2 years, and assessed nutritional status by subjective global assessment (SGA), biochemical, anthropometric and urea kinetic parameters. Patients were divided into 4 groups according to the results of standard peritoneal equilibration test (PET). The results were as follows: 1) The patients were divided into 4 groups according to the PET results: high transporter (n=16, 14%), high average transporter (n=38, 33%), low average transporter (n=50, 43%), and low transporter (n=11, 10%). 2) The mean age of the patients was 50.1+/-11.6 years (range, 19-75) with sex ratio (M:F) 1.2:1 and mean duration of dialysis was 57.5+/-27.8 months (range, 24-135). The mean body weight (Bwt) was 59.2+/-8.9kg, percent ideal body weight (%IBW) was 104.7+/-15.6%, %lean body mass (LBM)/Bwt was 82.1+/-11.1%, and malnourished patients by subjective global assessment (SGA) were 32.2% (38/115). 3) The mean BUN, creatinine, total protein, and albumin level of the patients were 54.5+/-13.1mg/dL, 12.3+/-3.0mg/dL, 6.7+/-0.8g/dL, and 3.8+/-0.6g/dL, respectively. 4) There were no significant differences in age, sex ratio, CAPD duration, peritonitis rate, %LBM/ Bwt, and SGA among the 4 groups. 5) Total protein (g/dL) and albumin (g/dL) levels in high transporters were 6.4+/-0.5, 3.5+/-0.4, respectively, and they were significantly lower than those of low transporters (7.2+/-0.6, 4.2+/-0.5) (P<0.05). 6) 24 hour dialysate protein (g/day) and albumin (g/day) losses were significantly higher in high transporters (8.10+/-1.85, 4.19+/-1.23) compared to those of low transporters (5.07+/-1.85, 2.78+/-0.99) (P<0.05). 7) The level of IGF-1 (ng/mL) was significantly lower in high transporters (150.5+/-86.2) compared to that of low transporters (310.3+/-162.1) (P<0.05). 8) The level of BUN (mg/dL), Cr (mg/dL) were also lower in high transporters (45.4+/-13.1, 10.1+/-2.0) than those of low transporters (61.6+/-18, 14.7+/-2.7), but there were no significant differences in Hct, total cholesterol, prealbumin, and transferrin among the 4 groups. 9) There were no statistically significant differences in Kt/Vurea, RRF, NPCR, dietary calorie and protein intakes among the 4 groups. 10) Anthrometric parameters such as TSF, BSF, MAC and LBM measured by three different methods (LBMCr, LBMimp, LBManthro) didn't show any significant differences among the 4 groups. In conclusion, increased peritoneal permeability may not adversely affect SGA and anthropometric status of long-term CAPD patients, although it is associated with lower serum albumin, creatinine, and IGF-1 level. Clinical significance of these findings remains to be elucidated.

A Case of Carney Complex / 대한내분비학회지

Carney Complex is an autosomal dominant syndrome characterized by multiple neoplasias, including myxomas at various sites and endocrine tumors, spotty pigmentations and schwannomas. The criteria for diagnosis of the complex is the presence of two or more of the following conditions: 1) cardiac myxoma, 2) cutaneous myxoma, 3) mammary myxoma, 4) spotty mucocutaneous pigmentation, 5) primary pigmented nodular adrenal cortical disease (Cushing's syndrome), 6) testicular tumors (sexual precocity), 7) pituitary adenoma secreting growth hormone (acromegaly or gigantism). It is thought that the genetic defects which are responsible for Carney complex maps to the short arm of chromosome 2 (2p16). There are about 200 patients with Carney complex reported in the world. We encounted a patient who had a cardiac myxoma with a family history of cardiac myxoma, acromegaly, lentigosis, testicular mass with calcification and left adrenal nodule. This patient met the criteria for the diagnosis of the complex. Therefore, we think this patient represents clinical presentation of the Carney complex and we report this case with reviews of the literatures.