Is central venous catheter in haemodialysis still the main factor of mortality after hospitalization?

BACKGROUND: Haemodialysis is the most frequently prescribed Renal Replacement Therapy modality worldwide. However, patients undergoing this therapy have an unpredictable evolution related to vascular access. OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors associated with the mortality and hospitalization rate in haemodialysis patients at a third-level care Centre in the Dominican Republic. METHODS: This was an observational and prospective study involving a cohort of 192 haemodialysis patients. The patient selection was non-probabilistic for convenience, and a direct source questionnaire was applied. RESULTS: Of the 192 patients in the cohort, 103 (53.6%) were hospitalized and evaluated. The most frequent cause of hospitalization was catheter-related bloodstream infections (53.4%). Almost one-third (28.2%) of the hospitalized patients died, mostly due to infections (12.6%). Of those who died 29 patients (90%) had a Central venous catheter (CVC) with a non-tunnelled catheter (NTCVC) (65.5%); having an NTC CVC makes a patient 85.5 times more likely to be hospitalized than patients with arteriovenous fistulas. CONCLUSION: Vascular access plays a predominant role in the hospitalization and mortality rates in haemodialysis. Patients with an arteriovenous fistula obtained significantly better outcomes than those with central venous catheters.

Acute peritoneal dialysis in the treatment of COVID-19-related acute kidney injury.

The kidney is not typically the main target of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, but surprisingly, acute kidney injury (AKI) may occur in 4-23% of cases, whereas the dialysis management of AKI from coronavirus 2019 has not gained much attention. The severity of the pandemic has resulted in significant shortages in medical supplies, including respirators, ventilators and personal protective equipment. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) remains available and has been used in clinical practice for AKI for >70 years; however, it has been used on only a limited basis and therefore experience and knowledge of its use has gradually vanished, leaving a considerable gap. The turning point came in 2007, with a series of sequential publications providing solid evidence that PD is a viable option. As there was an availability constraint and a capacity limit of equipment/supplies in many countries, hemodialysis and convective therapies became alternatives. However, even these therapies are not available in many countries and their capacity is being pushed to the limit in many cities. Evidence-based PD experience lends support for the use of PD now.

Incident elderly patients on peritoneal dialysis: Epidemiological characteristics and modality impact on survival time.

Aging of the population and the increased prevalence of diseases such as diabetes and arterial hypertension result in an increasing need of dialysis treatment. Herein we describe a cohort of elderly patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) and assess the influence of the modality on the long-term survival. Out of a multicenter prospective cohort of 2,144 BRAZPD PD incident patients during a period from December 2004 to October 2007, 762 elderly adults, defined as patients ≥65-year-old, were eligible for the study, 413 started on automated PD (APD) and 349 on continuous ambulatory PD (CAPD). Patients were followed until death, transfer to hemodialysis, recovery of renal function, loss to follow-up, or transplantation. Demographics and clinical data were evaluated at baseline and described as mean ± standard deviation, median, or percentage. Competing risk and time-dependent Cox analysis were performed, having dialysis modality APD] vs. CAPD as a dependent variable, as hazard ratio (HR) is not proportional throughout the therapy time. Mean age was 74.5 ± 6.8 years in APD, 74.6 ± 6.7 in CAPD, 50.8% females in APD, 54.4% in CAPD. The frequently observed comorbidities were diabetes (52.3% in APD and 47% in CAPD) and left ventricular hypertrophy (36.3% in APD and 46.1% in CAPD) whereas 93.6% presented Davies score ≥2. In Cox time-dependent analysis, HR did not show difference up to 18 months HR = 1.11, confidence interval (CI) = 0.85-1.46], but thereafter, APD modality revealed lower risk of mortality (HR = 0.25, CI = 0.0073-0.86), when compared with CAPD. After adjustment for the confounding factors, CAPD presented a higher risk of mortality (HR = 4.50, CI = 1.29-15.64). No differences in survival were observed up to 18 months of therapy; however, beyond 18 months, APD modality was a protection factor.

Back to basics: pitting edema and the optimization of hypertension treatment in incident peritoneal dialysis patients (BRAZPD).

Systemic arterial hypertension is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease that is frequently observed in populations with declining renal function. Initiation of renal replacement therapy at least partially decreases signs of fluid overload; however, high blood pressure levels persist in the majority of patients after dialysis initiation. Hypervolemia due to water retention predisposes peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients to hypertension and can clinically manifest in several forms, including peripheral edema. The approaches to detect edema, which include methods such as bioimpedance, inferior vena cava diameter and biomarkers, are not always available to physicians worldwide. For clinical examinations, the presence of pitting located in the lower extremities and/or over the sacrum to diagnose the presence of peripheral edema in their patients are frequently utulized. We evaluated the impact of edema on the control of blood pressure of incident PD patients during the first year of dialysis treatment. Patients were recruited from 114 Brazilian dialysis centers that were participating in the BRAZPD study for a total of 1089 incident patients. Peripheral edema was diagnosed by the presence of pitting after finger pressure was applied to the edematous area. Patients were divided into 2 groups: those with and without edema according to the monthly medical evaluation. Blood arterial pressure, body mass index, the number of antihypertensive drugs and comorbidities were analyzed. We observed an initial BP reduction in the first five months and a stabilization of blood pressure levels from five to twelve months. The edematous group exhibited higher blood pressure levels than the group without edema during the follow-up. The results strongly indicate that the presence of a simple and easily detectable clinical sign of peripheral edema is a very relevant tool that could be used to re-evaluate not only the patient's clinical hypertensive status but also the PD prescription and patient compliance.

Geographic and educational factors and risk of the first peritonitis episode in Brazilian Peritoneal Dialysis study (BRAZPD) patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Peritonitis remains as the most frequent cause of peritoneal dialysis (PD) failure, impairing patient's outcome. No large multicenter study has addressed socioeconomic, educational, and geographic issues as peritonitis risk factors in countries with a large geographic area and diverse socioeconomic conditions, such as Brazil. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: Incident PD patients recruited from 114 dialysis centers and reporting to BRAZPD, a multicenter observational study, from December 2004 through October 2007 were included. Clinical, dialysis-related, demographic, and socioeconomic variables were analyzed. Patients were followed up until their first peritonitis. Cox proportional model was used to determine independent factors associated with peritonitis. RESULTS: In a cumulative follow-up of 2032 patients during 22.026 patient-months, 474 (23.3%) presented a first peritonitis episode. In contrast to earlier findings, PD modality, previous hemodialysis, diabetes, gender, age, and family income were not risk predictors. Factors independently associated with increased hazard risk were lower educational level, non-white race, region where patients live, shorter distance from dialysis center, and lower number of patients per center. CONCLUSIONS: Educational level and geographic factors as well as race and center size are associated with risk for the first peritonitis, independent of socioeconomic status, PD modality, and comorbidities.

Automated peritoneal dialysis as the modality of choice: a single-center, 3-year experience with 458 children in Mexico.

Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) has been considered as the ideal dialysis modality for pediatric patients. This study reports the 3-year APD experience with 458 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) children who started APD in a single pediatric center in Mexico City between June 2003 and June 2006. By June 2003, there were 310 patients being treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). At that time, these patients were gradually switched to APD, with priority being given to those prescribed more than four exchanges per day, younger than 6 years of age, or presenting complications [hernias or decreased ultrafiltration (UF)]. An improvement of daily UF was observed when the patients were switched from CAPD (590 +/- 340 ml/day) to APD (846 +/- 335 ml/day). The presence of edema decreased (from 67% to 8%) as well as the percentage of patients requiring antihypertensive drugs (from 83% to 38%), the peritonitis rate improved from one episode every 35 patient/month to one episode every 47 patient/month, the total number of hospitalizations decreased (from 384 to 51), and 85% of children attended school. While waiting for renal transplant, APD is the dialysis modality of choice for ESRD children at the La Raza Medical Center in Mexico City.