Preoperative serum uric acid predicts incident acute kidney injury following cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) following cardiac surgery is a frequent complication and several risk factors increasing its incidence have already been characterized. This study evaluates the influence of preoperative increased serum uric acid (SUA) levels in comparison with other known risk factors on the incidence of AKI following cardiac surgery. METHODS: During a period of 5 month, 247 patients underwent elective coronary artery bypass grafting, valve replacement/ repair or combined bypass and valve surgery. Datas were prospectively analyzed. Primary endpoint was the incidence of AKI as defined by the AKI criteria comparing patients with preoperative serum uric acid (SUA) levels below versus above the median. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors of postoperative AKI. RESULTS: Thirty (12.1%) of the 247 patients developed postoperative AKI, 24 of 30 (80%) had preoperative SUA- levels above the median (≥373 µmol/l) (OR: 4.680, CI 95% 1.840; 11.904, p = 0.001). In the multivariate analysis SUA levels above the median (OR: 5.497, CI 95% 1.772; 17.054, p = 0.003), cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time > 90 min (OR: 4.595, CI 95% 1.587; 13.305, p = 0.005), cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) > 30 kg/m2 (OR: 3.208, CI 95% 1.202; 8.562; p = 0.02), and preoperative elevated serum-creatinine levels (OR: 1.015, CI 95% 1.001; 1.029, p = 0.04) were independently associated with postoperative AKI. CONCLUSIONS: Serum uric acid is an independent risk marker for AKI after cardiac surgery. From all evaluated factors it showed the highest odds ratio.

[The most frequent electrolyte disorders in the emergency department : what must be done immediately?]. / Die häufigsten Elektrolytstörungen in der Notaufnahme : Was ist sofort zu tun?

Hyponatremia is the most common form of electrolyte disorder in the emergency room. The symptoms are unspecific and include nausea, dizziness and often falls. Typical symptoms of severe hypernatremia are vomiting, cerebral seizures, somnolence and even coma. The specific initial laboratory diagnostics include measurement of serum electrolytes, serum glucose, serum and urine osmolarity and sodium in urine. The main aim of the clinical examination is to estimate the volume status. If a patient has hypovolemia an infusion of isotonic sodium chloride solution (0.9 %) is the method of choice. If the patient is euvolemic the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) or (neurotropic) drugs might be the cause. In these cases the primary measure is restriction of fluid intake. As a rapid correction of sodium levels can lead to pontine myelinolysis, the increase in sodium concentration must not be less than 10 mmol/l within the first 24 h and 18 mmol/l within the first 48 h. Clinical symptoms of hyperkalemia include neurological (e.g. muscle weakness, paresis, hyperreflexia, cramps and dysesthesia), gastrointestinal (e.g. nausea, vomiting and diarrhea) and cardiac symptoms (e.g. dysrhythmia and conductance disorders). Calcium injection stabilizes cardiac rhythm disorders immediately. For a rapid drop in potassium by shifting the potassium to the intracellular space, administration of glucose with insulin and high-dose inhalative administration of betamimetics can be used. Potassium elimination is achieved by infusion of isotonic sodium choride (0.9 %) with i.v. administration of furosemide, ion exchange resins and hemodialysis.

[Therapeutic strategies to prevent chronic kidney disease progression]. / Therapeutische Strategien gegen die Progression der Niereninsuffizienz.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is highly prevalent. Independent from the underlying disease, measures capable of decreasing the progression of CKD have been identified. Lowering of blood pressure and proteinuria are most important. As the potential risk of aggressive blood pressure-lowering strategies has become obvious, the current very low blood pressure goals are doubted. Thus, patients have to be treated individually taking into consideration each patient's preexisting cardiovascular damage and the risk of CKD progression. Additional modifiable risk factors are blood glucose in diabetic patients, lipids, anemia, uric acid, vitamin D, protein intake, and smoking.

Effects of donor age and cell senescence on kidney allograft survival.

The biological processes responsible for somatic cell senescence contribute to organ aging and progression of chronic diseases, and this may contribute to kidney transplant outcomes. We examined the effect of pre-existing donor aging on the performance of kidney transplants, comparing mouse kidney isografts and allografts from old versus young donors. Before transplantation, old kidneys were histologically normal, but displayed an increased expression of senescence marker p16(INK4a). Old allografts at day 7 showed a more rapid emergence of epithelial changes and a further increase in the expression of p16(INK4a). Similar but much milder changes occurred in old isografts. These changes were absent in young allografts at day 7, but emerged by day 21. The expression of p16(INK4a) remained low in young kidney allografts at day 7, but increased with severe rejection at day 21. Isografts from young donors showed no epithelial changes and no increase in p16(INK4a). The measurements of the alloimmune response-infiltrate, cytology, expression of perforin, granzyme B, IFN-gamma and MHC-were not increased in old allografts. Thus, old donor kidneys display abnormal parenchymal susceptibility to transplant stresses and enhanced induction of senescence marker p16(INK4a), but were not more immunogenic. These data are compatible with a key role of somatic cell senescence mechanisms in kidney transplant outcomes by contributing to donor aging, being accelerated by transplant stresses, and imposing limits on the capacity of the tissue to proliferate.

Crecimiento ventricular izquierdo. Diagnóstico por electrocardiografía / Left ventricular growth. Diagnosis by electrocardiogram

La hipertrofia ventricular izquierda es una de las principales lesiones de órganos diana relacionadas con la hipertensión arterial. Dicha hipertrofia influye de forma importante en el pronóstico cardiovascular del paciente hipertenso. Las técnicas más utilizadas para identificar la hipertrofia ventricular son la electrocardiografía y los métodos de imagen. Las principales ventajas de la electrocardiografía son su disponibilidad generalizada a un coste muy bajo, su reproductibilidad y la independencia del observador. Su principal debilidad es su baja sensibilidad. El método de imagen más ampliamente utilizado para valorar la masa ventricular izquierda es la ecocardiografía. No obstante, la ecocardiografía presenta una variabilidad inter e intraobservador bastante grande, sobrevalora de forma regular la masa ventricular en los corazones hipertrofiados y se basa en gran medida en suposiciones geométricas. Su principal ventaja es la posibilidad de valorar el llenado ventricular y la relajación diastólica. La hipertrofia ventricular izquierda puede modificarse mediante la administración de fármacos antihipertensivos, siendo los más eficaces los bloqueantes de los receptores de angiotensina y los inhibidores de la enzima de conversión de angiotensina. La reducción de la masa ventricular izquierda se asocia con una disminución del riesgo cardiovascular. La regresión de la hipertrofia debería definirse como uno de los objetivos de la terapia antihipertensiva, de forma adicional e independiente al control de la presión arterial

Left ventricular hypertrophy is one of the main lesions of the target organs related with high blood pressure. This hypertrophy has an important effect on the cardiovascular prognosis of the hypertense patient. The techniques used most to identify ventricular hypertrophy are the electrocardiogram and imaging methods. The primary advantages of the electrocardiogram are its generalized availability at a very low cost, its reproducibility and the observer independence. Its main weakness is its low sensitivity. The most widely used imaging method to evaluate left ventricular mass is the echocardiogram. However, the echocardiogram has a very large inter and intra-rater variability, commonly overestimates the ventricular mass in hypertrophied hearts and is largely based on geometric suppositions. Its main advantage is the possibility of evaluating ventricular filling and diastolic relaxation. Left ventricular hypertrophy may be modified through the administration of antihypertensive drugs, the most effective ones being angiotensin receptor blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors. Reduction of left ventricular mass is associated with a decrease of cardiovascular risk. Regression of hypertrophy should be defined as one of the goals of antihypertensive therapy, as an addition and independently to the control of blood pressure

Aldosterone blunts human baroreflex sensitivity by a nongenomic mechanism.

BACKGROUND: Impaired baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) is a negative predictive factor of mortality in cardiovascular disease. Aldosterone has been shown to decrease BRS in humans and animal models. However, the mode of aldosterone action, whether genomic or nongenomic has not been determined. Therefore, we conducted a clinical study to examine whether BRS, as measured by the phenylephrine method, is impaired in humans by aldosterone by a nongenomic mechanism. METHODS: In a randomised, double-blinded, fourfold cross-over trial in 16 healthy male volunteers, BRS was tested 15 minutes after initiation of a continuous infusion of aldosterone (3 microg/minute) or placebo. 6 hours earlier, this period was preceded by an injection of either canrenoate (400 mg) or placebo. RESULTS: BRS was 34.6 +/- 4.7 ms/mm Hg in the placebo/placebo period. It was significantly blunted in the placebo/aldosterone (25.5 +/- 1.8 ms/mm Hg) as well as in the canrenoate/placebo (24.0 +/- 1.5 ms/mm Hg) and the canrenoate/aldosterone (25.4 +/- 2.5 ms/mm Hg) periods. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the decreased BRS caused by aldosterone is due to a rapid, thus presumably nongenomic mechanism, as these effects occur in a time frame that excludes genomic aldosterone effects at large. The mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonist canrenoate does not block these effects, but blunts BRS by itself.

The effect of statins on angiotensin II-induced hemodynamic changes in young, mildly hypercholesterolemic men.

BACKGROUND: Angiotensin II type 1 (AT(1)) receptors are well known to mediate angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced pro-atherosclerotic effects. It has been found that hypercholesterolemia influences the expression of AT(1) receptors on vascular smooth muscle cells and that increased density of AT(1) receptors exaggerates the hemodynamic response to Ang II. We analyzed to what extent statins and AT(1) receptor antagonists diminish the vasoconstrictive response to Ang II infusion in hypercholesterolemic patients. METHODS: A total of 24 male patients with LDL cholesterol levels >130 mg/dL were enrolled in a randomized, cross-over study. After baseline evaluation, 12 patients received first cerivastatin (0.3 mg/day) and the other 12 patients initially received candesartan (8 mg/day) for 3 weeks, with subsequent cross-over of the medication for the second 3-week drug period. The vascular response was analyzed by the increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and total peripheral resistance (TPR) during infusion of increasing doses of Ang II at baseline and the end of each treatment period. Hemodynamic changes were also compared with those in 24 normocholesterolemic subjects without any therapy. RESULTS: At baseline, Ang II provoked a similar increase of MAP and TPR in patients and control subjects. Treatment with cerivastatin did not affect the response to Ang II compared with baseline. By contrast, treatment with candesartan attenuated significantly the response to Ang II compared with baseline and cerivastatin. CONCLUSIONS: Our hemodynamic data indicate the hypothesis that statins do not reduce the responsiveness to Ang II in resistance arteries of young, mildly hypercholesterolemic patients.