Internet and the nephrologist: a new era?
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Jeantet.
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BACKGROUND: Among self dialysis treatments, daily dialysis is encountering a growing interest. Aim of this study was to evaluate results of the first year of daily dialysis in our Center. METHODS: Since November 1998, twelve patients started daily dialysis. One patient started RRT on daily dialysis; one patient was in training; 8 were on home dialysis, 3 in the limited care center. Selection of patients was performed according to wide acceptance criteria as for age (range 33-61 years), dialysis follow-up (range 1-23 years), comorbidity (=/>1 comorbid factor present in 8). Dialysis schedule consisted of 6 sessions per week (2-3 hours), blood flow 250-320 ml/min, individualized dialysate. Occasional shift to 3-4 times per week were allowed for logistic or working reasons. RESULTS: Results were analyzed taking into account patient satisfaction and main clinical parameters. In 9/12 the choice of treatment resulted from both clinical reasons and patient preferences, while in 3 was due to clinical indications (1/3 dropped out). The main reasons of choice were logistic or research of the best treatment. The most common fears regarded fistula and needle puncturing. Despite the time unconvenience, the rapidly regained well being was the reason for choosing this treatment. Also in this relatively short follow-up the favorable results reported as for weight gain, blood pressure control and metabolic pattern are confirmed. The few side effects were multifactorial (fistula thrombosis after blood pressure normalization, 2 recurrences of atrial fibrillation). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, daily dialysis resulted also in our centre as a promising alternative even in difficult patients.
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OBJECTIVE: To determine, in a series of patients with secondary and tertiary parathyroid hyperplasia, whether the type of parathyroidectomy (subtotal, total with autotransplantation, or total), the histologic pattern of the parathyroid tissue, or the proliferative index, as determined by Ki-67 analysis, could predispose patients to recurrent hyperparathyroidism. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Recurrent hyperparathyroidism appears in 10--70% of the patients undergoing surgery for secondary or tertiary hyperparathyroidism. The incidence could be related to the type of operation (Rothmund) but also depends on the histologic pattern of the glands removed (Niederle). METHODS: The retrospective investigation was performed on 446 patients undergoing parathyroid surgery. They were also studied in relation to the possibility of renal transplantation. In this population, two homogeneous groups were subsequently identified (23 patients with clear signs of recurrence and 27 patients apparently cured); they were studied from the histologic and immunohistochemical point of view using antibody to Ki-67 antigen. RESULTS: Subtotal parathyroidectomy, total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation, and total parathyroidectomy produced similar results when considering the regression of osteodystrophy, pruritus, and ectopic calcification. As one could anticipate, total parathyroidectomy increased the incidence of hypoparathyroidism. The percentage of recurrence was 5% to 8% after subtotal parathyroidectomy, total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation, and total parathyroidectomy, and only after incomplete parathyroidectomy did this percentage climb to 34.7%. In the recurrence group, the nodular form was more common and the proliferative fraction detected by Ki-67 was 1.9%; it was 0.81% in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Because more radical procedures were not more effective, the authors favor a less radical procedure such as subtotal parathyroidectomy. Histologic patterns and proliferative fraction could be useful indices of a recurrence, and these patients should be watched closely after surgery.
BACKGROUND: Daily hemodialysis is a promising treatment schedule but uniform criteria for defining efficiency are lacking. METHODS: On our daily dialysis (DD) schedule, duration is flexible (2-3 hours, patients are free to add up to 30 min/session), Qb 250-350 mL/min; dialyser 1.6-1.8 m2. Study was performed on 12 pts on DD for > or = 2 months, with > or = 4 Kt/V on subsequent days, tested in the same laboratory. GOAL: To evaluate variability and identify a simple method for weekly calculation, Kt/V was assessed for 133 sessions. RESULTS: On flexible DD, variability of Kt/V-session is high (relative error 4.9%-22%). On flexible schedules, within the time range chosen (2-3 hours) variability of average hourly Kt/V is lower (standard deviation: min (0.014; max (0.052 hour, relative error 4.9%-10%) allowing calculation of weekly Kt/V (averaging 3 sessions: relative error < 6%) suitable for clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Flexible schedules, allowing patients to increase treatment time, are an interesting clinical option, but a challenge for Kt/V assessment.
Therapeutic compliance and patient education are presently considered crucial parts of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) therapy. In the center where Italian home and self-care dialysis treatment started, an education program was designed as multi-step pathway--following patients from chronic renal failure to dialysis and eventual graft--employing lessons, booklets, and books. Each step was validated in various subsets of patients. Lessons involved two hours of informal discussion on the main aspects of ESRD and renal replacement therapy (RRT); booklets were created from tape recordings of the lessons. Patient participation was good, with 28 of 33 patients on charge in the center for 6 months or more taking part in more than one lesson in 1999. In 16 of 16 patients who answered a questionnaire after two lessons, expressed opinion was "good" to "fair." All asked for further material. With regard to books, 500 copies of the book What does dialysis mean? were given out in the region; this book was validated in 22 patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 18 on hemodialysis (HD). It helped patients to accept dialysis in 65% of cases and to comprehend it in 90%. Four thousand copies of the book Stories, containing 18 interviews on transplantation, were printed, and this book was validated in 21 patients on self-care and 35 on hospital dialysis (potential candidates for graft). Of 56 patients, 53 asked for further material; 19 changed their initial opinion (10 choose transplantation, despite initial skepticism; 9 put off transplantation, despite initial acceptance). On a local scale, the program led 12 of 18 new patients, who followed at least part of the program, to choose self-dialysis (PD, home, and self-care dialysis).
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Plasma-free, purified, normal, human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) were recirculated for 60 minutes in an experimental model of dialysis using cuprophan membranes and acetate or bicarbonate dialysate. At different time intervals, the intracellular contents of PMN-derived cationic proteins (NCP), the release of lysosyme, beta-glucuronidase and PAF as well as the occurrence of PMN and platelet aggregating activities in the supernatants were evaluated. The formation of PMN aggregates, the depletion of intracellular contents of NCP together with the release of lysosomal constituents occurred early (5-10 min) in the course of recirculation. These events were concomitant with the occurrence of PMN aggregating activity in the supernatants due to the release of NCP, as it was antagonised (30-40%) by a rabbit anti-human NCP, and to the release of PAF which also accounted for the platelet aggregating activity that was independent from both adenosine diphosphate and cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors. These data suggest that direct interaction occurs between human PMN and cuprophan in in vitro conditions in the absence of plasma factors and point to a role for cellular mediators in the pathogenesis of the intravascular alterations occurring early in haemodialysis.
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The authors describe the experimental method used to make histomorphometric determinations in a case of osteomalacia caused by anticonvulsant drugs treated with 25(OH)D3. This comprised double fluorescent markings repeated at set time intervals after taking biopsy samples from the patient. This combined method of study enabled the effect of the treatment to be monitored throughout its course.
Numerical and functional markers of peripheral lymphocytes were adopted to study the influence of cimetidine on the immune response in immunocom-promized patients. Twenty-three patients on regular dialysis treatment, who had been given cimetidine (400 mg daily) for peptic ulcer, were studied during a follow-up of 3 months. Thirty healthy people served as controls for the study of the immunological parameters, i.e. DNCB and PPD skin tests, E-rosetting assays, monoclonal antibodies to T-cells, membrane immunoglobulins for the B-cells, serum immunoglobulins and complement. Before therapy was started CMI was impaired in all patients, with a significant reduction in the E-rosette count (P less than 0.01) and depressed DTH (DNCB, PPD). The number of active E-rosettes and OKT4 subsets increased slightly during the period of treatment, though this finding was not confirmed by functional in vivo tests. No change was observed in the B-lymphocyte count and in serum immunoglobulins or complement. The fact that treatment with cimetidine does not seem to influence the immune response in patients on RDT, may suggest that this therapy does not restore the principal immunopathological disorder of these patients, and further justifies its use in patients awaiting renal transplantation or in those who have been given transplant.
Reference is made to personal research and clinical experience, coupled with a select bibliography, in a survey of the most significant current knowledge with regard to diabetic nephropathy, designed for the nonspecialist practitioner and intended to enable him to update his knowledge without plunging into details, and to quickly decide what measures he should adopt in his daily practice. Questions of histopathology and aetiopathogenesis are examined, together with the relations between proteinuria, hypertension, renal function, and diabetic nephropathy. The clinical profile and progress of the disease are illustrated. Lastly, an account is given of the conventional modes of treatment, and of the still partly unsatisfactory results offered by more recent forms of replacement therapy (dialysis and transplantation).
Iatrogenic origins may be assigned to any form of kidney disease. Of the pathogenetic mechanisms involved, increasing importance is now attached to immunological responses and intravascular coagulopathies, though other processes long known to medicine have not ceased to play their part. Moreover, recent advances in the improvement of drugs and the standardisation of their use have given a better idea of the potential damage to the kidneys from many substances. A re-examination is made of the main findings in this field with a view to offering a simple summary of the underlying physiopathogenetic mechanisms, and drawing the diagnostic and clinical conclusions therefrom, so as to aid the general practitioner rather than the specialist. An account of the various medical interventions that may lead to kidney lesions, and the circumstances in which such interventions are most likely to be harmful, is followed by an analysis of recent opinions on the correct way of administering drugs in patients with kidney disease, so as to limit their potentially harmful effects as far as possible.
The technical features of dialysis facilitate the transmission of hepatitis B virus and the outbreak of possibly serious epidemics among patients and hospital staffs. Statistical, epidemiological and clinical data have been collected on many occasions. They serve to emphasise the problem and the need for quarantined centres. The establishment of such a centre for HBsAg-positive patients is discussed in the light of personal experience in the design and setting up of quarantined rooms. The underlying technical and structural requirements are also examined. Reference is also made to two years' experience in the running of a room of this kind. Stress is laid on the importance of having a room for these patients, not only from the clinical standpoint (lessening of contagion), but also from teh social and exonomic standpoint (reduced costs and length of hospital stay, greater rehabilitation).
Together with other forms of self-dialysis (including limited assistance and self-service), home dialysis keeps down cost to much lower levels than those ruling within the hospital. Self-management, which is a common factor of various types of extra-hospital dialysis, also enables the patient to fit in better to society and, in the majority of cases, offers complete working rehabilitation by way of deeper consciousness of his disease and of the various treatments for it. Personal experience of home dialysis covering 6 years activity in the sector is reported. 91 patients have been trained in self-management and 65 of these have already been sent home or are about to be. The most important problems tackled over this period are examined and the experience analysed. Particular reference is made to clinical, organizational and management problems. The paper thus forms a practical guide for those wishing to direct their efforts towards a home dialysis programme.