PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

H Rush

Publications and source records attributed to H Rush.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

A randomized trial of minidose warfarin for the prevention of late malfunction in tunneled, cuffed hemodialysis catheters.

BACKGROUND: Minidose warfarin (1 mg/day) has been associated with a 74% reduction in the thrombosis rate of central venous catheters used in oncology patients. To determine the efficacy of minidose warfarin on late malfunction caused by thrombosis or fibrin sheath formation in tunneled, cuffed catheters (TCC) used for hemodialysis (HD), we performed a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: One hundred five chronic HD patients with TCCs were initially randomized. Of these, 85 (warfarin 41 and placebo 44) completed the first two weeks of the protocol and were followed for the first year of TCC life or until TCC removal. RESULTS: Sixteen TCCs failed with late TCC malfunction, eight in each group. In a multivariate analysis, there was no significant effect of warfarin on thrombosis-free TCC survival or time to the first urokinase (UK) instillation for incipient thrombosis. The presence of a low hemoglobin (Hgb; <10.5 g/dL) or a low international normalized ratio (INR; <1.00) was significantly associated with a higher risk of late TCC malfunction (RR 5.2 and 4.0, respectively), a higher risk of incipient TCC thrombosis requiring UK (RR 2.0 and 2.8, respectively), and higher rates of UK dosing. Diabetics had a 3.6-fold higher risk of late TCC malfunction and a twofold higher risk of incipient thrombosis requiring UK, although these findings were not statistically significant. Aspirin use, race, age, number of hospitalizations, erythropoietin dose, intradialytic heparin dose, serum albumin, and the number of episodes of TCC-associated infection were not significantly associated with late TCC malfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Thrombosis prophylaxis using fixed minidose warfarin is not efficacious in TCCs used for HD. However, the present data suggest improved TCC survival in patients with an INR> 1.00. Patients with diabetes and those with a low Hgb or INR have a higher risk of late TCC malfunction.

Anticoagulants↗
PubMed2000

Increased incidence of hip fractures in dialysis patients with low serum parathyroid hormone.

To study the complications of renal osteodystrophy in patients with end-stage renal disease, we reviewed the incidence of hip fractures in our outpatient dialysis population from 1988 to 1998. One thousand two hundred seventy-two patients were treated for a total of 4,039 patient-years; 56 hip fractures were documented during this period. The incidence of hip fractures was many times greater in the dialysis patients than in the general population in each of the age-, race-, and sex-matched subgroups. The 1-year mortality rate from the hip fracture event was nearly two and a half times greater in the dialysis patients compared with the general population. The incidence of hip fractures in the first half of the decade was similar to that observed in the second half. When parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels were evaluated, we determined that patients with lower serum PTH levels were more likely to sustain a hip fracture than patients with higher PTH levels (P: < 0.006). In addition, we determined that patients with lower PTH levels had an earlier mortality than patients with higher PTH levels (P: < 0.03). We conclude that despite more aggressive therapy directed toward bone health in our dialysis patients in recent years, the incidence of hip fractures and their devastating morbidity and mortality remained unchanged over the past decade. Lower PTH levels may predispose to earlier mortality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Women's health issues in a dialysis population.

BACKGROUND: As women receiving hemodialysis are evaluated frequently by the nephrologist, we hypothesized that women's health issues are better addressed in the dialysis patient than in the general population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We surveyed the female patients in our dialysis population. 97% of the women approached agreed to participate. We found that 55.4% of our cohort had received routine gynecologic care. 50% of the women had undergone a Papanicolaou (Pap) smear in the last year. Of the women aged 40-50, 55% had undergone a mammogram in the last 2 years. In women over age 50, 71% received an annual mammogram. RESULTS: We found that 57% of the women were amenorrheic before starting renal replacement therapy while 16% had become amenorrheic after dialysis was started. 27% were still menstruating at the time of the survey. Only 4% of the amenorrheic women interviewed were currently on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as compared with 20% of women in our general medical clinics. While 67% stated that they would take hormone replacement if offered, 89% had never been offered HRT. Variables that positively correlated with willingness to take HRT were a history of a hysterectomy and more skilled work history. Although nephrologists surveyed at our academic facility agreed that amenorrheic women with renal disease benefited from HRT, many believed that it is not the role of the nephrologist to prescribe it. CONCLUSION: Despite frequent contacts with medical providers, women's health issues for patients on dialysis may not receive the same attention as women in the general population

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Does a placebo run-in or a placebo treatment cell affect the efficacy of antidepressant medications?

During the last decade, there has been an increasing use of a placebo run-in period prior to randomization to active treatments, or placebo in randomized controlled trials aimed at establishing acute phase antidepressant drug efficacy in patients with major depression. This procedure is thought to reduce response rates to placebo treatment after randomization, thereby increasing the drug-placebo difference. Metaanalyses of 101 studies reveal that a placebo run-in does not (1) lower the placebo response rate, (2) increase the drug-placebo difference, or (3) affect the drug response rate post-randomization in either inpatients or outpatients for any antidepressant drug group. If there is a post-randomization placebo treatment cell, drug response rates are unchanged or are slightly lower than if there is no placebo treatment cell for outpatients. These results suggest that a pill placebo run-in provides no advantage in acute phase efficacy trials.

Antidepressive Agents↗