Determinants of incident chronic kidney disease and progression in a cohort of HIV-infected persons with unrestricted access to health care.

OBJECTIVES: As socioeconomic factors may impact the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD), we evaluated the incidence and risk factors of incident CKD among an HIV-infected cohort with universal access to health care and minimal injecting drug use (IDU). METHODS: Incident CKD was defined as an estimated glomerular filteration rate (eGFR) <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2) for ≥ 90 days. eGFR was calculated using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation. Rates were calculated per 1000 person-years (PY). Associations with outcomes were assessed using two separate Cox proportional hazard models, adjusting for baseline and time-updated covariates. RESULTS: Among 3360 participants [median age 29 years; 92% male; 44% African American (AA)] contributing 23,091 PY of follow-up, 116 developed incident CKD [5.0/1000 PY; 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.2-6.0/1000 PY]. The median first eGFR value was 97.0 mL/min/1.73 m(2) [interquartile range (IQR) 85.3-110.1 mL/min/1.73 m(2)]. Baseline factors associated with CKD included older age, lower CD4 count at HIV diagnosis [compared with CD4 count ≥ 500 cells/µL, hazard ratio (HR) 2.1 (95% CI 1.2-3.8) for CD4 count 350-499 cells/µL; HR 3.6 (95% CI 2.0-6.3) for CD4 count 201-349 cells/µL; HR 4.3 (95% CI 2.0-9.4) for CD4 count ≤ 200 cells/µL], and HIV diagnosis in the pre-highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. In the time-updated model, low nadir CD4 counts, diabetes, hepatitis B, hypertension and less HAART use were also associated with CKD. AA ethnicity was not associated with incident CKD in either model. CONCLUSIONS: The low incidence of CKD and the lack of association with ethnicity observed in this study may in part be attributable to unique features of our cohort such as younger age, early HIV diagnosis, minimal IDU, and unrestricted access to care. Lower baseline CD4 counts were significantly associated with incident CKD, suggesting early HIV diagnosis and timely introduction of HAART may reduce the burden of CKD.

Measuring taste impairment in epidemiologic studies: the Beaver Dam Offspring Study.

Taste or gustatory function may play an important role in determining diet and nutritional status and therefore indirectly impact health. Yet there have been few attempts to study the spectrum of taste function and dysfunction in human populations. Epidemiologic studies are needed to understand the impact of taste function and dysfunction on public health, to identify modifiable risk factors, and to develop and test strategies to prevent clinically significant dysfunction. However, measuring taste function in epidemiologic studies is challenging and requires repeatable, efficient methods that can measure change over time. Insights gained from translating laboratory-based methods to a population-based study, the Beaver Dam Offspring Study (BOSS) will be shared. In this study, a generalized labeled magnitude scale (gLMS) method was used to measure taste intensity of filter paper disks saturated with salt, sucrose, citric acid, quinine, or 6-n-propylthiouracil, and a gLMS measure of taste preferences was administered. In addition, a portable, inexpensive camera system to capture digital images of fungiform papillae and a masked grading system to measure the density of fungiform papillae were developed. Adult children of participants in the population-based Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, are eligible for this ongoing study. The parents were residents of Beaver Dam and 43-84 years of age in 1987-1988; offspring ranged in age from 21-84 years in 2005-2008. Methods will be described in detail and preliminary results about the distributions of taste function in the BOSS cohort will be presented.

Prinzmetal's variant angina during extradural anaesthesia.

A 55-yr-old male undergoing varicose vein surgery with an extradural block complained of chest pain. E.c.g. changes and subsequent examination of the heart including coronary angiography suggested the diagnosis of Prinzmetal's variant angina. The therapeutic implications of this condition in patients undergoing anaesthesia and surgery are discussed.

Low-dose intramuscular ketamine and hyaluronidase for induction of anaesthesia in non-premedicated children.

The efficacy of low-dose intramuscular ketamine and hyaluronidase as an induction agent was studied in non-premedicated paediatric outpatients. With 40-50% of the hitherto minimum recommended dose a high success rate of induction was achieved, while the recovery time was considered satisfactory for outpatient anaesthesia. Side-effects were minimal and there were no instances of unpleasant dreams or emergence phenomena.

Haemoptysis following insertion of a Swan-Ganz catheter.

Haemoptysis occurred in a patient in whom a Swan-Ganz catheter was inserted for the induction of anaesthesia for hemicolectomy. It is suggested that acute pulmonary hypertension, superimposed on existing chronic pulmonary hypertension, superimposed on existing chronic pulmonary hypertension associated with mitral stenosis, was an important aetiological factor in the haemoptysis.