Low-protein diets for chronic kidney disease patients: the Italian experience.

BACKGROUND: Nutritional treatment has always represented a major feature of CKD management. Over the decades, the use of nutritional treatment in CKD patients has been marked by several goals. The first of these include the attainment of metabolic and fluid control together with the prevention and correction of signs, symptoms and complications of advanced CKD. The aim of this first stage is the prevention of malnutrition and a delay in the commencement of dialysis. Subsequently, nutritional manipulations have also been applied in association with other therapeutic interventions in an attempt to control several cardiovascular risk factors associated with CKD and to improve the patient's overall outcome. Over time and in reference to multiple aims, the modalities of nutritional treatment have been focused not only on protein intake but also on other nutrients. DISCUSSION: This paper describes the pathophysiological basis and rationale of nutritional treatment in CKD and also provides a report on extensive experience in the field of renal diets in Italy, with special attention given to approaches in clinical practice and management. Italian nephrologists have a longstanding tradition in implementing low protein diets in the treatment of CKD patients, with the principle objective of alleviating uremic symptoms, improving nutritional status and also a possibility of slowing down the progression of CKD or delaying the start of dialysis. A renewed interest in this field is based on the aim of implementing a wider nutritional therapy other than only reducing the protein intake, paying careful attention to factors such as energy intake, the quality of proteins and phosphate and sodium intakes, making today's low-protein diet program much more ambitious than previous. The motivation was the reduction in progression of renal insufficiency through reduction of proteinuria, a better control of blood pressure values and also through correction of metabolic acidosis. One major goal of the flexible and innovative Italian approach to the low-protein diet in CKD patients is the improvement of patient adherence, a crucial factor in the successful implementation of a low-protein diet program.

Management of CKD-MBD in non-dialysis patients under regular nephrology care: a prospective multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Knowledge about mineral bone disorder (MBD) management in non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (ND-CKD) patients is scarce, although essential to identifying areas for therapeutic improvement. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated current management of CKD-MBD in two visits, performed 6 months apart, in 727 prevalent ND-CKD stage 3b-5 patients from 19 nephrology clinics. Therapeutic inertia was defined as lack of treatment despite hyperphosphatemia and/or hypocalcemia, and/or hyperparathyroidism. The primary endpoint was the prevalence of achieved target for CKD-MBD parameters and related treatments (phosphate binders, vitamin D and calcium supplements). The secondary endpoint was the assessment of prevalence and clinical correlates of therapeutic inertia. RESULTS: Over 65 % of patients did not reach parathormone (PTH) targets, while 15 and 19 % did not reach phosphate and calcium targets, respectively. The proportion of untreated patients decreased from stage 3b to 5 (at baseline, from 60 to 16 %, respectively). From baseline to the 6-month visit, the achievement of targets remained stable. Low protein diet was prescribed in 26 % of patients, phosphate binders in 17.3 % (calcium-based binders 15.5 %, aluminium binders 1.8 %), and vitamin D in 50.5 %. The overall prevalence of therapeutic inertia at the 6-month visit was 34.0 % (for hyperphosphatemia, 54.3 %). Compared to CKD stage 3, the likelihood of therapeutic inertia was 40 and 68 % lower at stage 4 and 5, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PTH, calcium and phosphate targets were not reached in a significant proportion of patients. One-third of patients with at least one MBD parameter not-at-target remained untreated. Therapeutic inertia regarding CKD-MBD treatment may be a major barrier to optimizing the prevention and cure of CKD-MBD.

[Characteristics of patients with chronic kidney disease referred to a nephrology outpatient clinic: results of Nefrodata study]. / Le caratteristiche dei pazienti con insufficienza renale cronica afferenti agli ambulatori di nefrologia: risultati dallo studio Nefrodata®.

Chronic kidney disease is acknowledged as one of the most relevant disease for public health. Knowledge of epidemiology of CKD may allow public health interventions both for prevention and treatment in order to limit burden and management costs. Nefrodata is a multicentric, prospective, and observational study conducted in Italy, including patients with CKD followed in a specialist setting. The study uses a web-based data setting; it includes 1263 subjects with an estimate glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) less than 60 ml/min *1,73 sqm, followed in outpatient clinics in Italy. Patients' characteristics analysis evidences that old subjects (mean age of 70.3 13.4 years, 55% of them older than 70 years), with cardiovascular morbidity (50,6%) and diabetics (37%) have a high prevalence. With the reduction of residual renal function, prevalence of hyperphospatemia, metabolic acidosis, use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, Vitamin D, and diuretics increases. Also allopurinol and gastric-protective drugs are widely used. Fifty-four and eight % of patients with CKD stage 4 and 65.9% of patients with CKD stage 5 received indication on nutritional therapy.

Anaemia management in non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients: a multicentre prospective study in renal clinics.

BACKGROUND: Knowledge on anaemia management in non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (ND-CKD) patients regularly followed in renal clinics is scarce although being essential to identifying areas of therapeutic improvement. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated anaemia management in two visits, performed 6 months apart, in 755 prevalent ND-CKD stage 3b-5 patients followed in 19 nephrology clinics from ≥6 months. Anaemia was defined as severe (Hb <11 g/dL) or mild (Hb: 11-13.5 in males and 11-12 g/dL in females); iron deficiency (ID) was defined as transferrin saturation (TSAT) <20% and/or ferritin <100 ng/mL. Primary endpoint was the change of anaemia and ID prevalence between baseline and 6-month visit. Secondary endpoint was the prevalence of clinical inertia to either ESA or iron supplementation, that is, the lack of ESA or iron prescription despite Hb <11 g/dL or ID. RESULTS: Age was 69 ± 13 years and GFR 27.5 ± 10.0 mL/min/1.73 m(2); male gender, diabetes and prior cardiovascular disease were 57.2, 30.1 and 30.1%, respectively. Prevalence of severe and mild anaemia was 18.0 and 44.0% at baseline and remained unchanged at Month 6 (19.3 and 43.2%). ID was prevalent at both visits (60.1 and 60.9%). Clinical inertia to ESA was similar at baseline and at Month 6 (39.6 and 34.2%, respectively, P = 0.487) and it was less frequent than clinical inertia to iron therapy (75.7 and 72.0%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that anaemia prevalence is unexpectedly high in the setting of tertiary nephrology care. This was due to a persistent clinical inertia in the anaemia management, remarkable for iron supplementation and less critical, but still significant, for ESA treatment.

[Escherichia coli-induced emphysematous pyelonephritis in a diabetic patient with polycystic kidney disease]. / Pielonefrite enfisematosa da escherichia coli in una paziente diabetica con reni policistici.

Emphysematous pyelonephritis is a rare, necrotizing infection of the kidney and the perirenal space resulting in the formation of gas in both structures and associated with a high mortality rate. In 90% of cases it affects one kidney only; in the remaining 10% with bilateral emphysematous pyelonephritis aggressive surgical intervention may be required. Women are much more frequently affected than men, with diabetes mellitus (in 70-90% of cases) and urinary tract obstruction being common predisposing conditions. The pathogenesis of the disease is linked to four main factors: the presence of gasforming bacteria; hyperglycemia; inadequate tissue perfusion; and reduced immune response. Lactose-fermenting bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are the most common infectious agents. We report a case of unilateral emphysematous pyelonephritis due to a ruptured cyst infected by E. coli in a diabetic patient with polycystic kidney disease. The resulting septic shock necessitated an emergency right nephrectomy.

A prospective controlled trial on effect of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty on functioning arteriovenous fistulae survival.

Balloon angioplasty (PTA) is an established treatment modality for stenosis in dysfunctional arteriovenous fistulae (AVF), although most studies showing efficacy have been retrospective, uncontrolled, and nonrandomized. In addition, it is unknown whether correction of stenosis not associated with significant hemodynamic, functional, and clinical abnormality may improve survival in AVF. This study was a prospective controlled open trial to evaluate whether prophylactic PTA of stenosis not associated with access dysfunction improves survival in native, virgin, radiocephalic forearm AVF. Sixty-two stenotic, functioning AVF, i.e., able to provide adequate dialysis, were enrolled in the study: 30 were allocated to control and 32 to PTA. End points of the study were either AVF thrombosis or surgical revision due to reduction in delivered dialysis dose. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that PTA improved AVF functional failure-free survival rates (P = 0.012) with a fourfold increase in median survival and a 2.87-fold decrease in risk of failure. Cox proportional hazard model identified PTA as the only variable associated with outcome (P = 0.012). PTA induced an increase in access blood flow rate (Qa) by 323 (236 to 445) ml/min (P < 0.001), suggesting that improved AVF survival is the result of increased Qa. PTA was also associated with a significant decrease in access-related morbidity by approximately halving the risk of hospitalization, central venous catheterization, and thrombectomy (P < 0.05). This study shows that prophylactic PTA of stenosis in functioning forearm AVF improves access survival and decreases access-related morbidity, supporting the usefulness of preventive correction of stenosis before the development of access dysfunction. It also strongly supports surveillance program for early detection of stenosis.

Nutrición y el riñón: cómo manejar a los pacientes con falla renal

Se cree que la nutición desempeña un papel fundamental en el manejo de la falla renal crónica y aguda. Hay un cúmulo de evidencia que sugiere que las dietas sin restricción de proteinas aceleran el progreso de la falla renal crónica. Por consiguiente, se han desarrollado varias recomendaciones en el sentido de limitar la cantidad y calidad de la ingesta de nitrógeno con el propósito de frenar el avance del paciente hacia un estado de dependencia de la dialisis. La falla renal aguda plantea unos desafíos diferentes en vista de que suele estar asociada con estados hipermetabólicos. Con respecto, a la administración de sustratos de nitrogeno, tal parece que las formulaciones combinadas de aminoácidos esenciales y no esenciales son tan eficaces como las formulaciones a base de aminoácidos esenciales únicamente.