Dialysis therapy and mortality in older adults with heart failure and advanced chronic kidney disease: A high-dimensional propensity-matched cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) frequently coexist, and the combination is linked to poor outcomes, but limited data exist to guide optimal management. We evaluated the outcome of dialysis therapy in older patients with HF and advanced CKD. METHODS: We examined adults aged ≥70 years with HF and eGFR ≤20 ml/min/1.73 m2 between 2008-2012 and no prior renal replacement therapy, cancer, cirrhosis or organ transplant. We identified patients who initiated chronic dialysis through 2013 and matched patients who did not initiate dialysis on age, gender, diabetes status, being alive on dialysis initiation date, and a high-dimensional propensity score for starting dialysis. Deaths were identified through 2013. We used Cox regression to evaluate the association of chronic dialysis and all-cause death. RESULTS: Among 348 adults with HF and advanced CKD who initiated dialysis and 947 matched patients who did not start dialysis, mean age was 80±5 years, 51% were women and 33% were Black. The crude rate of death was high overall but lower in those initiating vs. not initiating chronic dialysis (26.1 vs. 32.1 per 100 person-years, respectively, P = 0.02). In multivariable analysis, dialysis was associated with a 33% (95% Confidence Interval:17-46%) lower adjusted rate of death compared with not initiating dialysis. CONCLUSIONS: Among older adults with HF and advanced CKD, dialysis initiation was associated with lower mortality, but absolute rates of death were very high in both groups. Randomized trials should evaluate net outcomes of dialysis vs. conservative management on length and quality of life in this high-risk population.

Thrombotic microangiopathy with intraglomerular IgM pseudothrombi in Waldenström macroglobulinemia and IgM monoclonal gammopathy.

IgM secreting myelomas or lymphomas, including Waldenström macroglobulinemia, are associated with a varied spectrum of renal pathology, including intracapillary hyaline deposits, cryoglobulin, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, amyloid, monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition disease, cast nephropathy, and lymphoma infiltration. We report our single institution experience, and describe five cases with distinctive glomerular pathology: intracapillary IgM pseudothrombi and thrombotic microangiopathic change, with glomerular intracellular crystals in two biopsies. Two patients were hypocomplementemic at presentation. This series adds to the recent literature on paraprotein associated thrombotic microangiopathy.

Very Low Density Lipoprotein Metabolism in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

BACKGROUND: Hypertriglyceridemia is a common metabolic complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and an important risk factor for coronary heart disease in this patient population. The mechanisms responsible for the development of hypertriglyceridemia in subjects with CKD are not clear. METHODS: We studied very low density lipoprotein triglyceride (VLDL-TG) and VLDL-apolipoprotein B-100 (VLDL-apoB-100) kinetics in vivo in 6 subjects with non-dialysis-dependent CKD (CKD-ND), 6 subjects with CKD treated with peritoneal dialysis (CKD-PD) and 24 sex-, age- and body mass index-matched control subjects with normal renal function (12 control subjects each matched with the CKD-ND and CKD-PD group, respectively). RESULTS: The secretion rates of VLDL-TG and VLDL-apoB-100 into plasma were not different between CKD-ND or CKD-PD and their respective control groups. The mean residence times of VLDL-TG and VLDL-apoB-100 in plasma, which represents the time VLDL-TG and VLDL-apoB-100 spend in the circulation after secretion by the liver, tended to be greater in subjects with CKD-ND than in control subjects (222 ± 38 vs. 143 ± 21 min, p = 0.07, and 352 ± 102 vs. 200 ± 20 min, p = 0.06, respectively) and were about two-fold greater in subjects with CKD-PD compared with their control group (248 ± 51 vs. 143 ± 21 min and 526 ± 116 vs. 182 ± 16 min, respectively; both p ≤ 0.01). CONCLUSION: Impaired plasma clearance of VLDL-TG and VLDL-apoB-100 is the major abnormality associated with hypertriglyceridemia in patients with either CKD-ND or CKD-PD.

Ability of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and calculated intermediate-density lipoprotein to identify nontraditional lipoprotein subclass risk factors in dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: Non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and calculated intermediate-density lipoprotein cholesterol (IDL-C) have been proposed as surrogate markers to estimate apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins. The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of non-HDL-C and calculated IDL-C to predict nontraditional lipoprotein risk factors among dialysis patients and to compare the prevalence of these nontraditional risk factors between dialysis modalities. METHODS: The authors performed a cross-sectional analysis comparing standard lipid profile with lipoprotein analysis via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy among 186 hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients on modern lipid-lowering therapy. RESULTS: The PD group had a significantly higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particle concentration (P < 0.005), higher large very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL; P < 0.001), greater small dense LDL (P < 0.001), and lower protective large HDL (P < 0.005). Forty-six (40%) of 118 subjects with LDL-C below goal had at least 1 nontraditional risk factor by NMR spectroscopy. The sensitivity of non-HDL-C method together with triglyceride (TG) value greater than 200 mg/dL (>2.26 mmol/L) to predict nontraditional risk was 13% and increased to 20% if TG values were excluded. A negative correlation was observed between LDL particle size and HDL-C (r2 = 0.269; P < 0.001); the sensitivity of HDL-C to predict LDL size was 92%. There was no relationship between measured IDL by NMR and calculated IDL-C (r2 = 0.005; P = 0.69). CONCLUSION: Non-HDL-C greater than 130 mg/dL (3.4 mmol/L) independent of TG values and HDL-C lower than 40 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L) may predict nontraditional lipoprotein risk factors among dialysis patients. This is especially applicable to patients on PD, a modality associated with a more atherogenic lipoprotein profile.