Publications by authors named "Andrew Davenport"

Introduction: Increasing numbers of elderly co-morbid patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) are now offered haemodialysis. Simple, rapid screening tools are required to risk-assess patients, highlighting those requiring nutritional or other support and advising on prognosis. As such, we assessed a newly introduced tool, the hand grip strength index (HGS index), a comparison of measured to predicted HGS.

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Introduction: Fluid assessment and management is a key aspect of good dialysis care and is affected by patient-level characteristics and potentially centre-level practices. In this secondary analysis of the BISTRO trial we wished to establish whether centre-level practices with the potential to affect fluid status were stable over the course of the trial and explore if they had any residual associations with participant's fluid status.

Methods: Two surveys (S) of fluid management practices were conducted in 32 participating centres during the trial, (S1: 2017-18 and S2: 2021-22).

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Background: High-dose haemodiafiltration has been shown, in a randomised clinical trial, to result in a 23% lower risk of mortality for patients with kidney failure when compared with conventional high-flux haemodialysis. Nevertheless, whether treatment effects differ across subgroups, whether a dose-response relationship with convection volume exists, and the effects on cause-specific mortality remain unclear. The aim of this individual patient data meta-analysis was to compare the effects of haemodiafiltration and standard haemodialysis on all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

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Background: Preservation of residual kidney function (RKF) in dialysis patients has been associated with improved survival. RKF in the BISTRO trial was relatively well preserved and here we describe its association with survival during the trial and extended follow-up.

Methods: RKF, measured as the average urea and creatinine clearance (GFR) or 24-hour urine volume was assessed at baseline, one, two and three months and three-monthly up to 2 years in incident haemodialysis patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • Hyperkalemia is a health problem linked to heart issues in patients receiving dialysis, and this study looks at how different dialysis methods affect potassium removal.
  • The study involved 141 patients, with most receiving online hemodiafiltration (OL-HDF), and it found that the method didn't significantly change how much potassium was removed during treatment.
  • The main factors affecting potassium removal were the levels of potassium in the dialysis solution and the length of the dialysis session, not the type of dialysis used.
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Background & Aims: Therapeutic plasma exchange (PEX) has emerged as a potential treatment option for patients with acute liver failure (ALF). The effect of PEX on survival outcomes outside of clinical trials is not yet well established. In this study we aimed to evaluate the real-world use and outcomes of PEX for the treatment of ALF.

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  • The study aimed to explore how self-efficacy and social support relate to Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in hemodialysis patients who participated in the CONVINCE trial.
  • Using data from 1,360 patients, the researchers found that higher self-efficacy significantly predicted improved HRQoL across various domains, including mental health, physical function, and pain management.
  • While social support also positively influenced cognition and some symptoms, self-efficacy had a notably stronger impact, highlighting its importance in enhancing overall well-being in this patient population.
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  • - Chronic kidney disease affects around 13% of the global population and is expected to be a major cause of life years lost by 2040, with end-stage kidney disease leading to complications like renal cachexia, which is not well understood and has limited treatment options.
  • - The study aims to understand the experiences of individuals with renal cachexia and their carers through in-depth interviews, adhering to ethical research practices in a UK healthcare setting.
  • - Seven participants (four patients and three carers) were recruited, with the data analyzed to identify six key themes related to their lived experiences, including issues like appetite loss, weight decline, social withdrawal, and emotional struggles.
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  • The study evaluated the economic benefits of using bioimpedance spectroscopy for fluid management in dialysis patients compared to standard methods, focusing on its impact on kidney function and risk of anuria.
  • Conducted in 34 UK dialysis centers, the trial involved 439 adult patients with some residual kidney function, testing how bioimpedance data could optimize patient care.
  • The primary goal was to assess the cost-effectiveness of this approach by calculating the cost per additional quality-adjusted life-year gained over 24 months.
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Background: Haemodialysis treatments generate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mainly as a result of the equipment, consumables and pharmaceuticals required. An internal audit demonstrated a 33% wastage of acid concentrate when using individual 5.0 L containers at a 1:44 dilution ratio.

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Article Synopsis
  • Frequent hemodialysis (more than three times a week) may lower mortality and improve quality of life for kidney failure patients, but the evidence is not clear.
  • A systematic review of available studies found only seven eligible trials with a total of 518 participants, indicating limited data on the health effects of frequent hemodialysis.
  • The analysis suggested a possibly lower risk of death with frequent hemodialysis, but results were uncertain, and important outcomes like cardiovascular events and patient-reported well-being were largely missing.
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Introduction: Dialysis adequacy is traditionally calculated from pre- and post-hemodialysis session serum urea concentrations and expressed as the urea reduction ratio, or Kt/Vurea. However, with increasing hemodiafiltration usage, we wished to determine whether there were any differences between standard Kt/Vurea equations and directly measured spent dialysate urea clearance.

Methods: Urea clearance was measured from collected effluent dialysate and compared with various other methods of Kt/Vurea calculation, including change in total body urea from measuring pre- and post-total body water with bioimpedance and the Watson equation, by standard Kt/V equations, and online clearance measurements using effective ionic dialysance (OLC).

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  • * A study looked at how fluid movement in different body parts affects IDH during dialysis, examining 42 patients.
  • * Results showed that 38% of patients experienced IDH early, and measuring fluid changes could help prevent this problem in the future.
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Purpose: We applied a previously established common T-score metric for patient-reported and performance-based physical function (PF), offering the unique opportunity to directly compare measurement type-specific patterns of associations with potential laboratory-based, psychosocial, sociodemographic, and health-related determinants in hemodialysis patients.

Methods: We analyzed baseline data from the CONVINCE trial (N = 1,360), a multinational randomized controlled trial comparing high-flux hemodialysis with high-dose hemodiafiltration. To explore the associations of potential determinants with performance-based versus patient-reported PF, we conducted multiple linear regression (backward elimination with cross-validation and Lasso regression).

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  • * Researchers also assessed health-related quality of life (HRQoL) across various domains, finding that while both groups experienced a decline, the HDF group showed more favorable changes, particularly in cognitive function.
  • * Overall, the trial indicated HDF not only benefits survival rates but also helps slow the decline in quality of life aspects for patients, particularly in physical and cognitive functioning.
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Introduction/aims/objective: Inadequate nutritional intake in haemodialysis (HD) patients increases the risk of muscle wasting, nutrient deficiencies, leading to an increased risk of additional morbidity and mortality. We aimed to assess nutritional intake on the dialysis day and nondialysis day (NDD) of patients established on HD.

Methods: We employed a 2-day dietary record, one on the day of dialysis and one on the NDD, and then determined nutritional intake using the Nutritics software.

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Background: Haemodialysis (HD) patients are reported to be at greater risk of malnourishment, and at risk of increased morbidity and mortality. However, most studies report from economically advanced countries. We therefore assessed the nutritional status and diet among HD patients attending a public university hospital in a sub-Saharan African country.

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Background: Accurate predictions of animal occurrence in time and space are crucial for informing and implementing science-based management strategies for threatened species.

Methods: We compiled known, available satellite tracking data for pygmy blue whales in the Eastern Indian Ocean (n = 38), applied movement models to define low (foraging and reproduction) and high (migratory) move persistence underlying location estimates and matched these with environmental data. We then used machine learning models to identify the relationship between whale occurrence and environment, and predict foraging and migration habitat suitability in Australia and Southeast Asia.

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Background: Debate continues as to the optimum hemodialysis (HD) dialysate calcium concentration. Although current guidelines advocate 1.25-1.

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Chronic kidney disease poses a growing global health concern, as an increasing number of patients progress to end-stage kidney disease requiring kidney replacement therapy, presenting various challenges including shortage of care givers and cost-related issues. In this narrative essay, we explore innovative strategies based on in-depth literature analysis that may help healthcare systems face these challenges, with a focus on digital health technologies (DHTs), to enhance removal and ensure better control of broader spectrum of uremic toxins, to optimize resources, improve care and outcomes, and empower patients. Therefore, alternative strategies, such as self-care dialysis, home-based dialysis with the support of teledialysis, need to be developed.

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Inadequate nutrition is common for both sarcopenia and frailty. We investigated whether hemodialysis patients with sarcopenia and frailty have reduced dietary intakes. Dietary intake, and physical activity were analyzed, along with body composition and relevant clinical data.

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Introduction: Hemodialysis patient groups have advocated reducing dialysis fatigue and symptoms. We investigated whether compartmental fluid shifts were associated with peri-dialytic fatigue and symptoms.

Methods: Sessional dialysis records of patients reporting both a short and delayed recovery (<1 h and ≥1 h) with corresponding bioimpedance measurements were reviewed.

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Safe, accurate, and reliable analysis of urinary biomarkers is clinically important for early detection and monitoring of the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD), as it has become one of the world's most prevalent non-communicable diseases. However, current technologies for measuring urinary biomarkers are either time-consuming and limited to well-equipped hospitals or lack the necessary sensitivity for quantitative analysis and post a health risk to frontline practitioners. Here we report a robust paper-based dual functional biosensor, which is integrated with the clinical urine sampling vial, for the simultaneous and quantitative analysis of pH and glucose in urine.

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Introduction: Several studies have reported that patients with low levels of Vitamin D have impaired responses to vaccination, including COVID-19 vaccines, so we reviewed the response to COVID-19 vaccination in haemodialysis patients, who typically have reduced Vitamin D levels.

Methods: The inhibitory antibody (IC50) responses to several COVID-19 variants following vaccination in a cohort of United Kingdom haemodialysis patients receiving two vaccinations between March 2021 and May 2021 were reviewed.

Results: A total of 183 haemodialysis patients, 65.

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