Eosinopenia as a prognostic factor of mortality for COVID-19 in end-stage kidney disease patients.

Background: The unique role of eosinophil in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients has been shown in several studies, but its role in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients who contracted COVID-19 is less reported. This study investigated eosinopenia's predictive value as a mortality marker in ESKD patients with COVID-19. Methods: It is a retrospective study of ESKD patients who contracted COVID-19 between May 2020 and October 2021 in West Nusa Tenggara General Hospital, Indonesia. Comparative analysis was carried out between the death dan survival group. Logistic regression analysis was done to investigate the role of eosinopenia on the outcome after controlling other significant variables. Results: The analyses included one hundred fifteen confirmed COVID-19 in ESKD patients. The average age was 50, 53% of patients were males, 41% were newly diagnosed with ESKD, and the mortality rate was 25.2%. This study's prevalence of eosinopenia, high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and high C-reactive protein (CRP) in the nonsurvivors was 51.4%, 39.3%, and 30.8%, respectively. Diastolic blood pressure <90 mmHg (P=0.004), respiratory rate >22 x/minutes (P=0.011), oxygen saturation <93% (P=0.008), NLR >6 (p<0.001), eosinophil count <0.01 x103/uL (p<0.001), CRP >20 mg/L (P=0.047), and isolation hemodialysis (HD) therapy (p<0.001) were independently associated with mortality of COVID-19 in ESKD patients. However, on multivariate logistic regression analysis, eosinopenia (P=0.019) and HD (P=0.001) were risk factors that remained significant prognostic mortality factors. Conclusion: Eosinopenia was common in ESKD patients with COVID-19, particularly in the death group. Eosinopenia at admission and HD during hospitalization were risk factors for COVID-19 mortality in ESKD patients.

Hypokalemia Related to Distal Renal Tubular Acidosis as an Initial Presentation of Primary Sjogren's Syndrome.

Hypokalemia due to loss of potassium through the kidneys can be caused by distal Renal Tubular Acidosis (dRTA). The etiology of dRTA can be primary due to genetic defects or secondary to autoimmune diseases, especially Sjogren's syndrome (SS). The occurrence of dRTA in SS patients is low, at only 5% of cases. This case was interesting because dRTA was the initial clinical manifestation that led to the diagnosis of SS in the patient. A 48-year-old woman came with complaints of recurrent weakness. The patient was routinely hospitalized with severe hypokalemia and received potassium supplementation. The diagnosis of dRTA was based on repeated weakness, normal blood pressure, severe and recurrent hypokalemia, high urinary potassium, alkaline urine, low plasma bicarbonate, and standard anion gap metabolic acidosis. The diagnosis of SS in this patient was confirmed based on dry eyes, dry mouth, positive Schirmer's test, and positive autoantibodies to SS-A and Ro-52. There was a delay in the diagnosis of SS for two years in this patient because the complaints were initially subtle and non-specific. The hypokalemia in this patient was secondary to dRTA associated with primary SS. The possibility of an underlying autoimmune disorder should be considered in a patient presenting with recurrent severe hypokalemia. dRTA, as the etiology of hypokalemia, can be a gateway to the diagnosis of SS. In this patient, complaints related to dRTA appeared before the onset of sicca symptoms, and the diagnosis of SS was established.

Rhabdomyolysis with compartment syndrome-induced acute kidney injury in resource-limited settings: A case report.

Background: Diagnosis and management of rhabdomyolysis-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) are challenging in resource-limited settings. Laboratory markers for the diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) for the management of unstable hemodynamic AKI may be difficult to access. This report presented a case of rhabdomyolysis with compartment syndrome, which had a high prognostic factor for kidney failure and death in Lombok, Indonesia. Case presentation: A 34-year-old man came to the hospital complaining of pain and swelling in his right thigh after being buried by an avalanche of buildings. Laboratory examination showed leukocytosis, hemoconcentration, increased creatinine, metabolic acidosis, hyperkalemia, and dark brown urine. Muscle damage markers showed levels of creatinine phosphokinase >20000 U/L, aspartate aminotransferase 255 U/L, alanine aminotransferase 186 U/L, and lactate dehydrogenase >3000 U/L. Diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis, compartment syndrome, and AKI was primarily on clinical grounds. Despite immediate management (fluid therapy, antibiotics, and fasciotomy), the patient continued progress to AKI. Because CRRT was not available, the patient received a single hemodialysis treatment. A day later, the patient developed hypotension, went into septic shock, and died after five days of treatment. Conclusion: A patient with rhabdomyolysis, compartment syndrome, and acute kidney injury could have a better outcome if the patient arrived early and is treated immediately in a fully-equipped health care facility.

The Correlation Between HbA1c and Neuropathy Disability Score in Type 2 Diabetes.

BACKGROUND: World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the incidence of type 2 diabetes in Indonesia would increase to 21.3 million in 2030. Diabetes has a chronic complications, including peripheral neuropathy. The degree of neuropathy was assessed through the Neuropathy Disability Score (NDS). In contrast, haemoglobin A1c is glycated haemoglobin used to monitor the glucose levels of diabetic patients in the last 2 or 3 months. The relationship between HbA1c and diabetic neuropathy carried out by electrodiagnosis showed that HbA1c and age were the main predictors of diabetic neuropathy. However, electrodiagnosis is still considered costly. Research is needed to determine the relationship between HbA1c and NDS to reduce morbidity. This study aims to determine the relationship between the severity of diabetic neuropathy as measured by NDS with HbA1c level in type 2 Diabetes. METHODS: this cross-sectional study involved correlation analysis.. The collected data were analyzed with the Spearman correlation test. RESULTS: approximately 56 diabetic patients were involved in this study. Patients were recruited from the internal medicine outpatient ward from the West Nusa Tenggara General Hospital. The mean age was 59.55 (SD 9.48) with 57.1% female; the median duration of diabetes was 5.5 years. The median NDS score is 7.5 and the median HbA1c value is 8.65. Spearman correlation analysis shows a correlation coefficient of 0.487 with a value of p = 0.000. CONCLUSION: there is a relationship between HbA1c level and the severity of diabetic neuropathy in Type 2 DM.

Diagnosis and Management of Heatstroke.

Heatstroke is a life-threatening  and the most severe form of heat-related illnesses, characterized by body temperature >40ºC and central nervous system dysfunction. Heatstroke is classified into Non-Exertional Heatstroke (NEHS) and Exertional Heatstroke (EHS). The pathophysiology of heatstroke involves a combination of direct heat effects on the host, the systemic inflammatory and coagulopathic response. The diagnosis of heatstroke based on Bouchama's definition or Japan Association of Acute Medicine (JAAM) criteria. The basic principle of heatstroke management is early resuscitation and immediate cooling. Cold water immersion or convection evaporation method can be implemented based on the specific patient characteristic. Preventive strategies are early recognition by health workers, socialization to vulnerable groups and adequate acclimatization.