Use of regional citrate anticoagulation for continuous venovenous hemodialysis in critically ill cancer patients with acute kidney injury.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA) protocol for continuous venovenous hemodialysis (CVVHD) in cancer patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred twenty two consecutive ICU cancer patients with AKI treated with citrate-based CVVHD were prospectively evaluated in this prospective observational study. RESULTS: A total of 7198 h of CVVHD therapy (250 filters) were performed. Patients were 61.3 ±â€¯15.7 years old, 78% had solid cancer and the main AKI cause was sepsis (50%). The in-hospital mortality was 78.7%. Systemic ionized calcium (SCai) was 4.35 (4.10-4.60) mg/dL, severe hypocalcemia (SCai <3.6 mg/dL) was observed in 4.3% of procedures and post-filter ionized calcium was 1.60 (1.40-1.80) mg/dL. Median filter patency was 24.8 (11-43) hours. Factors related to filter clotting were: no tumor evidence (OR 0.44, CI 0.18-0.99); genitourinary tumor (OR 1.83, CI 1.18-2.81); platelets number (each 10,000/mm3) (OR 1.02, CI 1.00-1.04); International Normatized Ratio (INR) (OR 0.59, CI 0.41-0.85) and citrate dose (each 10 mL/h) (OR 0.88, CI 0.82-0.95). CONCLUSION: Filter patency was relatively short and clotting was associated with active cancer disease, genitourinary tumor, lower citrate dose and lower INR.

Cisplatin based chemoradiation late toxicities in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients.

BACKGROUND: Cisplatin-based chemoradiation (CRT) offers head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients better overall survival when compared to radiation alone. However, it also increases acute and late toxicity (LT). Here we aimed to review the main aspects of diagnosis and treatment of long-term toxicities in HNSCC patients after CRT. METHODS: We crossed-searched PubMed MeshTerms: Survivors, Deglutition Disorders, Xerostomia, Hypothyroidism, Cisplatin, Kidney, Hearing, and Osteoradionecrosis, with keywords: "Head and Neck Neoplasms" and "Chemoradiotherapy." A total of 5,541 publications were retrieved and 48 were selected for this systematic review. RESULTS: Dysphagia (25%), xerostomia (40-80%, depending on the technique used), hypothyroidism (42%), ototoxicity (27%), and osteoradionecrosis (4%) were the most commonly reported LT and were related to compromised quality of life aspects in HNSCC patients. Concurrent cisplatin and higher radiation doses, especially to normal tissue, increased the rates of LT. CONCLUSIONS: Late CRT toxicities were reported mostly in retrospective studies. Addressing these adverse effects as endpoints in future clinical trials is necessary to provide tools to prevent and treat them adequately, allowing better quality of life and survival results.

Prostatic surgery associated acute kidney injury.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with extended hospital stays, high risks of in-hospital and long-term mortality, and increased risk of incident and progressive chronic kidney disease. Patients with urological diseases are a high-risk group for AKI owing to the coexistence of obstructive uropathy, older age, and preexistent chronic kidney disease. Nonetheless, precise data on the incidence and outcomes of postoperative AKI in urological procedures are lacking. Benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer are common diagnoses in older men and are frequently treated with surgical procedures. Whereas severe AKI after prostate surgery in general appears to be unusual, AKI associated with transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) syndrome and with rhabdomyolysis (RM) after radical prostatectomy have been frequently described. The purpose of this review is to discuss the current knowledge regarding the epidemiology, risk factors, outcomes, prevention, and treatment of AKI associated with prostatic surgery. The mechanisms of TURP syndrome and RM following prostatic surgeries will be emphasized.

Nephrology referral and outcomes in critically ill acute kidney injury patients.

BACKGROUND: Delayed nephrology consultation (NC) seems to be associated with worse prognosis in critically ill acute kidney injury (AKI) patients. DESIGN SETTING PARTICIPANTS & MEASUREMENTS: The aims of this study were to analyze factors related with timing of NC and its relation with AKI patients' outcome in intensive care units of a tertiary hospital. AKI was defined as an increase ≥50% in baseline serum creatinine (SCr). Early NC and delayed NC were defined as NC performed before and two days after AKI diagnosis day. Multivariable logistic regression and propensity scores (PS) were used to adjust for confounding and selection biases. Hospital mortality and dialysis dependence on hospital discharge were the primary outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 366 AKI patients were analyzed and NCs were carried out in 53.6% of the patients. Hospital mortality was 67.8% and dialysis required in 31.4% patients (115/366). Delayed NCs (34%) occurred two days after AKI diagnosis day. This group presented higher mortality (OR: 4.04/CI: 1.60-10.17) and increased dialysis dependence (OR: 3.00/CI: 1.43-6.29) on hospital discharge. Four variables were retained in the PS model for delayed NC: diuresis (1000 ml/24 h--OR: 1.92/CI: 1.27-2.90), SCr (OR: 0.49/CI: 0.32-0.75), surgical AKI (OR: 3.67/CI: 1.65-8.15), and mechanical ventilation (OR: 2.82/CI: 1.06-7.44). After correction by PS, delayed NC was still associated with higher mortality (OR: 3.39/CI: 1.24-9.29) and increased dialysis dependence (OR: 3.25/CI: 1.41-7.51). Delayed NC was associated with increased mortality either in dialyzed patients (OR: 1.54/CI: 1.35-1.78) or non-dialyzed patients (OR: 2.89/CI: 1.00-8.35). CONCLUSION: Delayed NC was associated with higher mortality and increased dialysis dependence rates in critically ill AKI patients at hospital discharge. Further studies are necessary to ascertain whether this effect is due to delayed nephrology intervention or residual confounding factors.

Advanced prostate cancer as a cause of oncogenic osteomalacia: an underdiagnosed condition.

PURPOSE: Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) is a paraneoplastic bone mineral disturbance related to fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) overproduction by the tumor, usually from mesenchymal origin. Such condition leads to high phosphate renal wasting and, consequently, to cumbersome symptoms as weakness, bone pain, and fractures. METHOD: Case report. RESULT: We report a case of an advanced castration-refractory prostate cancer patient, which developed severe hypophosphatemia with elevated phosphate excretion fraction. TIO was suspected, and increased levels of FGF23 reinforced such diagnosis. The patient died 4 months after being diagnosed with TIO. CONCLUSION: This case suggests that TIO has a dismal prognosis in prostate cancer patients. The clinical oncology community must be aware about such disturbance that can be present in those patients with weakness, bone pain, and hypophosphatemia.

Performance of the third-generation models of severity scoring systems (APACHE IV, SAPS 3 and MPM-III) in acute kidney injury critically ill patients.

BACKGROUND: Severity scores are useful to guarantee similar disease severity among groups in clinical trials and to enable comparison between different studies. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of the third generation models of severity scoring systems [simplified acute physiology score (SAPS) 3, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) IV and mortality probability model (MPM)-III] in acute kidney injury (AKI) patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: Three hundred and sixty-six consecutive AKI critically ill patients were prospectively assessed in six ICUs of an academic tertiary care center. Scores were applied on AKI diagnosis day (DD) and on the day of nephrology consultation (NCD). Discrimination was assessed by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCROC) and calibration by Hosmer-Lemeshow (HL) goodness-of-fit test. RESULTS: Hospital mortality rate was 67.8%. SAPS 3 general and Central and South America (CSA) customized equations presented identical good discrimination (AUCROC curve: 0.80 on NCD) and satisfactory HL tests on both analyzed days (P > 0.100). CSA SAPS 3 equation predicted mortality more accurately [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) on NCD = 1.00 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.84-1.34)]. APACHE IV and MPM-III scores presented similar discrimination compared to SAPS 3 on both analyzed days (P > 0.05). APACHE IV presented satisfactory HL tests over time (P > 0.100) but underestimated mortality [SMR on DD = 1.92 (95% CI 1.61-2.23); SMR on NCD = 1.46 (95% CI 1.48-1.96)]. MPM-III showed unsatisfactory HL test results (P = 0.027 on DD; P = 0.045 on NCD) and underestimated mortality [SMR on NCD = 2.09 (95% CI 1.48-1.96)]. CONCLUSIONS: SAPS 3, especially the geographical customized equation, presented good discrimination and calibration performances, accurately predicting mortality in this group of AKI critically ill patients.

Sequential evaluation of prognostic models in the early diagnosis of acute kidney injury in the intensive care unit.

General and specific severity scores for patients with acute kidney injury have significant limitations due in part to the diversity of methods that have been used. Here we prospectively validated five general (APACHE II, SAPS II, SOFA, LODS, and OSF) and three specific (SHARF, Liaño, and Mehta) scoring systems in 366 critically ill patients who developed acute kidney injury in the intensive care unit. Sequential scores in each system were determined on the day that acute kidney injury was diagnosed, on the day when acute kidney injury-specific score criteria were achieved, and on the day of initial nephrology consultation. Acute kidney injury, defined as an increase of 50% or more in the baseline serum creatinine, was mainly due to sepsis, and had an incidence of 19% and an overall 68% mortality. A progressive improvement in score performance was found. On the day of initial nephrology consultation, most scores showed a good performance and two indices (SAPS II and SHARF) achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve above 0.80. Calibration was good on all three defining days, except for OSF when score criteria were achieved, and Mehta at the time of nephrology consultation. Our study shows that early and sequential evaluation is a better approach for prognostic scoring in critically ill patients who develop acute kidney injury.

Insuficiência renal aguda em unidade de tratamento intensivo: perfil epidemiológico e validação de índices prognósticos / Acute kidney injury in intensive care unit: epidemiological profile and prognostic scores validation

Introdução - Pacientes com Insuficiência Renal Aguda (IRA) internados em Unidades de Terapia Intensiva (UTI) apresentam elevada complexidade. A melhor abordagem na utilização de índices prognósticos nesses pacientes é uma questão em discussão. Os objetivos deste estudo foram: 1) determinar o perfil epidemiológico e os fatores preditores de mortalidade de pacientes críticos com IRA em nosso meio; 2) avaliar a performance de 05 índices prognósticos gerais (APACHE II, SAPS II, OSF, LODS E SOFA) e de 03 índices específicos para pacientes com IRA (Liaño, Mehta e SHARF) nessa população; 3) avaliar os fatores relacionados ao chamado do nefrologista (CN) e seu impacto no prognóstico desses pacientes. Métodos - Foram acompanhados prospectivamente todos os pacientes admitidos em seis UTIs do HCFMUSP que desenvolveram IRA entre Novembro de 2003 e Junho de 2005. Para definição de IRA foi utilizado o critério correspondente ao primeiro nível do sistema RIFLE de classificação (aumento em 50% na creatinina basal). A IRA foi classificada como do tipo clínica ou cirúrgica. Os índices foram calculados sequencialmente: 1) no dia do diagnóstico da IRA - D0; 2) no dia de preenchimento dos critérios dos índices específicos - D1, ocorrendo um dia após o D0; 3) no dia do chamado do nefrologista - D3, ocorrendo três dias após o D0. O desempenho dos escores foi avaliado em termos de discriminação pela análise da área sob a curva ROC (receiver operating characteristic) (AUROC) e de calibração avaliada pelo teste de goodness-of-fit de Hosmer e Lemeshow. Em cada dia foi realizado um modelo de regressão logística para os fatores preditores de mortalidade. Resultados - Um total de 366 pacientes foi acompanhado. A incidência de IRA foi de 19% e a mortalidade geral foi de 68%. O índice geral e o índice específico com melhor desempenho nos três momentos estudados foram o SAPS...

Introduction - Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) are among the most complex in medicine. The best prognostic evaluation approach for these patients is an issue under discussion. The aims of this study were: 1) define the epidemiological characteristics and identify mortality predictive factors in AKI critically ill patients; 2) validate 5 general scores (APACHE II, SAPS II, SOFA, LODS and OSF) and 3 specific scores (SHARF, Liaño and Mehta); 3) assess factors related to nephrology consultation (NC) and its impact on patients prognosis. Methods - All AKI cases developed in 6 ICUs of HCFMUSP were prospectively followed between November 2003 and June 2005. All prognostic scores were applied at three distinct moments: diagnosis day (D0); the day when AKI-specific criteria were met and the day of nephrology consultation. A logistic regression model was carried out from the mortality related variables for each day. We have used as AKI definition the criterion corresponding to R stage of RIFLE classification (increase over 50% in basal serum creatinine - Cr). AKI was classified as clinic or surgical in origin. Score performance was assessed by discrimination (area under the ROC - receiver operator characteristic - curve estimation) and calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test evaluation). Results - Three hundred sixty six patients were analyzed. ARF incidence was 19% and overall mortality was 68%. Meeting the specific score criteria occurred one day after D0 (D1) and NC, 3 days after D0 (D3). SAPS II and SHARF were the general and specific scores presenting the best performance with AUROC of 0.83 and 0.81, respectively. All scores presented good calibration except OSF (on D1) and Mehta (on D3) scores. We have observed a progressive improvement in...