Association of all-cause mortality with pre-dialysis systolic blood pressure and its peridialytic change in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Background: Pre-dialysis systolic blood pressure (pre-HD SBP) and peridialytic SBP change have been associated with morbidity and mortality among hemodialysis (HD) patients in previous studies, but the nature of their interaction is not well understood.

Methods: We analyzed pre-HD SBP and peridialytic SBP change (calculated as post-HD SBP minus pre-HD SBP) between January 2001 and December 2012 in HD patients treated in US Fresenius Medical Care facilities. The baseline period was defined as Months 4-6 after HD initiation, and all-cause mortality was noted during follow-up.

Association of Central Venous Oxygen Saturation Variability and Mortality in Hemodialysis Patients.

Background: Central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) is correlated with cardiac output. In most patients, ScvO2 declines during hemodialysis (HD) due to factors such as reduced preload, myocardial stunning, and intermittent arrhythmias. Previous research has shown that low ScvO2 is associated with higher mortality in chronic HD patients.

Reliability and agreement of sodium (Na) MRI in calf muscle and skin of healthy subjects from the US.

Purpose: To quantify the reliability and agreement of sodium (Na) MRI in calf muscle and skin of healthy subjects and to measure the smallest real difference (SRD) in each.

Subjects And Methods: Thirty healthy subjects underwent Na MRI studies of the calf. A scan-rescan protocol was performed the same day and 1 week later.

Intradialytic hypertension is associated with low intradialytic arterial oxygen saturation.

Background: The pathophysiology of a paradoxical systolic blood pressure (SBP) rise during hemodialysis (HD) is not yet fully understood. Recent research indicated that 10% of chronic HD patients suffer from prolonged intradialytic hypoxemia. Since hypoxemia induces a sympathetic response we entertained the hypothesis that peridialytic SBP change is associated with arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2).

Association between intradialytic central venous oxygen saturation and ultrafiltration volume in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Background: Cardiac disease is highly prevalent in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Decreased tissue perfusion, including cardiac, due to high ultrafiltration volumes (UFVs) is considered to be one of the drivers of cardiac dysfunction. While central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) is frequently used as an indicator of cardiac output in non-uremic populations, the relationship of ScvO2 and UFV in HD patients remains unclear.

Intradialytic Central Venous Oxygen Saturation is Associated with Clinical Outcomes in Hemodialysis Patients.

Central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO) in the superior vena cava is predominantly determined by cardiac output, arterial oxygen content, and oxygen consumption by the upper body. While abnormal ScvO levels are associated with morbidity and mortality in non-uremic populations, ScvO has received little attention in hemodialysis patients. From 1/2012 to 8/2015, 232 chronic hemodialysis patients with central venous catheters as vascular access had their ScvO monitored during a 6-month baseline period and followed for up to 36 months.

Erythrocyte Sodium Sensitivity and Eryptosis in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients.

Background/aims: In hemodialysis (HD) patients the endothelial and erythrocyte glycocalyx is impaired which in turn correlates with elevated erythrocyte sodium sensitivity (ESS). Additionally, apoptotic erythrocyte death (eryptosis), characterized by phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure on the cell surface, is increased in this population. We aimed to explore the relationship of ESS and eryptosis.

Physical Activity and Sleep Patterns in Hemodialysis Patients in a Suburban Environment.

Background/aims: Hemodialysis (HD) patients are less active than their healthy counterparts. They are often plagued with sleep disorders that affect the quality of their sleep. Our aim was to objectively quantify activity and sleep quality among HD patients in a suburban HD population.

Intradialytic Hypoxemia and Clinical Outcomes in Patients on Hemodialysis.

Background And Objectives: Intradialytic hypoxemia has been recognized for decades, but its associations with outcomes have not yet been assessed in a large patient cohort.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: Our retrospective cohort study was conducted between January of 2012 and January of 2015. We recorded blood oxygen saturation every minute during hemodialysis in patients with arteriovenous access.

Quantifying Physical Activity Levels and Sleep in Hemodialysis Patients Using a Commercially Available Activity Tracker.

Background/aims: Hemodialysis (HD) patients are less active than their healthy counterparts and frequently experience poor sleep. Our aims were to objectively quantify activity and sleep quality in HD patients of an urban population and to determine the effect of providing feedback on activity.

Methods: Activity parameters and sleep parameters were collected by a commercially available activity tracker in 29 chronic HD patients.

Intradialytic Hypoxemia in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients.

When kidney failure occurs, patients are at risk for fluid overload states, which can cause pulmonary edema, pleural effusions, and upper airway obstruction. Kidney disease is also associated with impaired respiratory function, as in central sleep apnea or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Hence, respiratory and renal diseases are frequently coexisting.

A physiologically based model of vascular refilling during ultrafiltration in hemodialysis.

An assessment of fluid status can be obtained by monitoring relative blood volume (RBV) during hemodialysis (HD) treatment. The dynamics of RBV is determined by fluid removal from the intravascular compartment by ultrafiltration (UF) and vascular refill from the interstitium. To characterize this dynamics, a two-compartment model describing the short-term dynamics of vascular refilling and UF is developed.

It's a non-dialysis day… Do you know how your patient is doing? A case for research into interdialytic activity.

Hemodialysis (HD) patients are less active than their healthy counterparts; this is associated with higher mortality. Healthcare workers observe their patients only during HD, which accounts for about 7% of the week. Knowing more about what occurs in between sessions, particularly with respect to physical activity, may improve patient care and prognosis.

Nano-visualization of viral DNA breaching the nucleocytoplasmic barrier.

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) mediate all transport between the cytosol and the nucleus highly selectively. Their selectivity can become an insurmountable hurdle for exogenously applied therapeutic macromolecules. Many viruses naturally overcome the NPC barrier.