Seroconversion following Heplisav-B, hepatitis B vaccine (recombinant), adjuvanted, in patients with end-stage renal disease at an urban safety net hospital.

PURPOSE: Heplisav-B is a novel recombinant adjuvanted vaccine for hepatitis B virus (HBV) that has been approved as a 2-dose regimen and shown to have similar seroconversion rates in healthy adults as single-antigen HBV vaccines. More data are needed to determine whether similarly high rates of seroconversion and immunity are observed in immunocompromised patient populations such as in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on hemodialysis. METHODS: Patients with ESRD who presented for emergency-only hemodialysis and either were HBV vaccine naive or had a hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) titer of less than 10 IU/mL received 3 standard 20-µg doses of Heplisav-B at week 0, week 4 (±2 weeks), and week 24 (±2 weeks), with anti-HBs titer measured at week 28 (±2 weeks). RESULTS: Thirty-two patients received at least one dose in the study timeframe, with 24 patients completing the vaccine series and measurement of anti-HBs titer. The mean age of the patients was 46 years, and 58% of patients were male. Of the 24 patients who completed the vaccine series, 20 (83%) seroconverted after the third dose. Three of the 4 patients who did not seroconvert after 3 doses were revaccinated with an additional 20-µg dose, and 2 of the 3 patients had an anti-HBs titer of greater than 10 IU/mL 4 weeks after this dose. CONCLUSION: Patients with ESRD who received three 20-µg doses of recombinant HBV vaccine had a seroconversion rate of 83%, representing a similar seroconversion rate and fewer doses of vaccine as compared to the standard HBV vaccine regimen for patients with ESRD.

Management of an i.v. fluid shortage through use of electronic medical record alerts.

PURPOSE: Evaluation of mechanisms used to cope with an i.v. fluid shortage to determine if prescribing habits were changed and if substitution of an i.v. dose of magnesium with an oral dose impacted patient outcomes. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective analysis of electronic medical record (EMR) alerts and medical records covering 6-month periods before and during an i.v. fluid shortage was conducted. Records of adult medical and surgical inpatients admitted during these periods who had an order for i.v. or oral magnesium were screened for inclusion. The primary outcome of part 1 of the study was the percent acceptance of drug shortage-related EMR alert recommendations associated with i.v. magnesium. The primary outcome of part 2 of the study was the change in serum magnesium concentration (SMC) after an i.v. or oral dose of magnesium was administered. RESULTS: Of the 7,476 EMR alerts generated during provider ordering of i.v. magnesium products, 4.8% resulted in the provider accepting the recommendation to switch to an oral alternative, 89% resulted in continuation of an i.v. magnesium order, and 6.2% resulted in order cancellation. Among patients who received magnesium doses, SMC values increased by a mean (SD) of 0.135 (0.08) mg/dL per gram of i.v. magnesium sulfate administered (n = 251), compared to an increase of 0.058 (0.08) mg/dL per 400-mg tablet of magnesium oxide administered (n = 42). CONCLUSION: Acceptance of the EMR alert recommendations was low. Both i.v. magnesium sulfate and oral magnesium oxide are viable options for increasing SMC.

Management of hyperkalemia in hospitalized patients.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of treatment of hyperkalemia in hospitalized patients. METHODS: This is a prospective chart review of adults in a tertiary care hospital with hyperkalemia (serum potassium [K] ≥5.1 mEq/L) over a 6-month period. The treatments and their effectiveness, causative factors and associated electrocardiographic (ECG) changes were examined. RESULTS: There were 154 hyperkalemic episodes, 32 with K ≥6.5 mEq/L and 122 with K<6.5 mEq/L. Overall, 97% received treatment for an average K of 5.9 mEq/L. Sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS) was included in 95% of the regimens. Incremental doses of SPS monotherapy yielded potassium reductions between 0.7 and 1.1 mEq/L, and inadequate responses (K <0.5 mEq/L) were less frequent with higher doses. There were no differences in the effectiveness of SPS among dialysis-dependent, chronic kidney disease, or nonchronic kidney disease patients. Greater reductions in potassium were observed using a combination of treatments. ECGs were performed in 44% of patients, and 50% showed no ECG changes despite K being ≥6.5 mEq/L. The most common abnormality, peaked T waves, was associated with a higher frequency of calcium administration but not with the number of K+-lowering therapies. CONCLUSIONS: Almost all the patients were treated for hyperkalemia. Oral SPS monotherapy was the predominant treatment with the best response at the highest dose. Some combination therapies had greater K reductions but were used infrequently. An ECG was obtained in about 50% of the cases, but two thirds showed no K-related changes. Reduced kidney function was associated with 70% of hyperkalemic episodes. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and trimethoprim were the most commonly implicated medications.

Once-weekly vancomycin for patients receiving high-flux hemodialysis.

PURPOSE: The effectiveness of a once-weekly vancomycin dosing protocol for patients receiving long-term high-flux hemodialysis (HFHD) in the outpatient setting was studied. METHODS: Eligible patients were at least 18 years old, required hemodialysis for at least two months before study enrollment, and were not known to have any active infection. All patients received outpatient dialysis at a 1000-bed urban teaching hospital three times per week through a high-flux synthetic dialyzer. All patients received vancomycin 35 mg/kg, rounded to the nearest 250 mg, administered during hemodialysis at a rate of 1 g/hr via an infusion pump and scheduled to end when the hemodialysis session was over. Vancomycin was infused either predialyzer or postdialyzer, and infusion pumps were used in patients who received vancomycin through the postdialyzer access port. Serum vancomycin levels were measured before the third hemodialysis session (study day 8) to evaluate the percentage of patients who maintained therapeutic vancomycin concentrations of >or=10 microg/mL. RESULTS: No patients achieved a vancomycin concentration of >or=10 microg/mL on study day 8 (mean serum concentration, 5.1 microg/mL). When patients were separated into two groups based on administration technique, six patients (83%) who received vancomycin predialyzer had undetectable vancomycin levels (<3.5 microg/mL) by study day 8 (n = 6). Patients who received vancomycin postdialyzer maintained a mean serum concentration of 6.4 microg/mL at day 8 (n = 3). CONCLUSION: A single dose of vancomycin 35 mg/kg administered during HFHD in oliguric patients with end-stage renal disease did not achieve the therapeutic serum concentration necessary for once-weekly dosing.

Role of acetylcysteine in the prevention of contrast-media-induced nephrotoxicity.

The role of acetylcysteine in the prevention of contrast-media-induced nephrotoxicity was retrospectively studied. The medical records of patients undergoing cardiac catheterization between January 2000 and March 2002 were reviewed. The outcomes of patients with serum creatinine (SCr) concentrations above 1.2 mg/dL who were undergoing cardiac catheterization with contrast agents and received prophylactic acetylcysteine with i.v. hydration were compared with those of a control group who did not receive acetylcysteine. SCr concentrations were recorded 24 hours before administration of the contrast agent and 48-72 hours afterward for both groups. Sixty patients were included in the study: 32 in the acetylcysteine group and 28 in the control group. Both groups were comparable in demographics, disease states, drug regimens, and risk factors for developing contrast-agent-induced nephrotoxicity. In the acetylcysteine group, the median SCr concentration before receiving the contrast agent was 1.7 mg/dL and remained the same afterward. The median SCr concentration in the control group before administration of the contrast agent and 48-72 hours afterward was 1.6 and 1.9 mg/dL, respectively. The median change in SCr concentrations was greater in the control group than in the acetylcysteine group (0.25 and 0 mg/dL, respectively) (p = 0.001). The percentage of patients developing acute renal failure was greater in the control group than in the treatment group (25% versus 12.5%, respectively) (p = 0.21). The use of prophylactic oral acetylcysteine, combined with i.v. hydration, significantly reduced SCr levels after the administration of contrast media.

Alteplase versus urokinase in restoring blood flow in hemodialysis-catheter thrombosis.

The effectiveness of alteplase and urokinase in restoring adequate hemodialysis blood-flow rates was examined. A retrospective review of the medical records of hemodialysis patients with central venous catheters receiving alteplase or urokinase for presumed catheter thrombosis between June 1997 and December 2000 was conducted. Patients received 1 mL of alteplase 1 mg/mL or 1 mL of urokinase 5000 units/mL in each catheter port. The choice of the thrombolytic agent was left to the prescriber. Effectiveness of thrombolysis was defined as achieving a posttreatment hemodialysis blood-flow rate of > 300 mL/min, maintained for at least 30 minutes during the dialysis session. Inclusion criteria included adherence to the thrombolytic protocol and the inability to achieve a hemodialysis blood-flow rate of > 300 mL/min during the first 60 minutes of the hemodialysis session despite at least one attempt to reposition the catheter. Both thrombolytic agents significantly increased the hemodialysis blood-flow rates. Patients with alteplase-treated catheters were twice as likely to achieve hemodialysis blood-flow rates of > 300 mL/min (p = 0.0134) and were more likely to complete hemodialysis during that session (93% versus 70%, p = 0.0234). The percentage of functioning catheters at a subsequent hemodialysis session did not significantly differ between groups (p = 0.0806). The majority of patients in both treatment groups required no further interventions. Hemodialysis blood-flow rates increased after either alteplase 1 mg/mL per port or urokinase 5000 units per port was used to clear presumed catheter thrombosis. Alteplase was more likely than urokinase to result in a hemodialysis blood-flow rate of > 300 mL/min.