Obstetric and long-term kidney outcomes in renal transplant recipients: a 40-yr single-center study.

Female renal transplant recipients of childbearing age may ask what the outcomes are for pregnancy and whether pregnancy will affect graft function. We analyzed obstetric and transplant outcomes among renal transplant recipients in our center who have been pregnant between 1973 and 2013. A case-cohort study was performed identifying 83 pairs of pregnant and non-pregnant controls matched for sex, age, transplant vintage, and creatinine.

The effect of omega-3 fatty acids on the atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype in patients with nephrotic range proteinuria.

Aims: Patients with nephrotic range proteinuria are known to have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease partly due to possessing the atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of high dose omega-3 fatty acids on atherogenic triglyceride rich lipoproteins in patients with nephrotic range proteinuria, comparing their effect on lipoprotein profiles in age and sex matched controls.

Methods: 17 patients with nephrotic range proteinuria and 17 age and sex matched controls were studied.

Assessing proteinuria in chronic kidney disease: protein-creatinine ratio versus albumin-creatinine ratio.

Background: Quantification of proteinuria is important in the assessment of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The aim of this study was to investigate the optimal test to identify significant proteinuria.

Methods: We retrospectively assessed the relationship between total protein:creatinine ratio (TPCR), albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR) and 24-h urine total protein in 6842 patients with CKD focusing on performance at thresholds of 0.

Omega-3 fatty acids improve postprandial lipaemia in patients with nephrotic range proteinuria.

Background: Patients with nephrotic range proteinuria have a marked increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease. Qualitative and quantitative changes in lipids and lipoproteins contribute to this increased risk with an abundance of atherogenic triglyceride (TG) rich apolipoprotein B containing lipoproteins. TG rich lipoproteins predominate postprandially and are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Endothelial function in patients with proteinuric primary glomerulonephritis.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the commonest cause of mortality among patients with end-stage renal disease. Endothelial function and inflammation have previously been shown to be abnormal among such individuals, and are known to be important factors in the progression of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to assess endothelial function early in the natural history of renal disease.

Factors predicting outcome in a cohort of patients with atherosclerotic renal artery disease diagnosed by magnetic resonance angiography.

Background: Atherosclerotic renal artery disease increasingly is recognized as a cause of chronic kidney disease and associated with high morbidity and mortality. We investigated factors predicting patient and renal survival in a cohort of patients with atherosclerotic renal artery disease diagnosed by means of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of patients attending our unit in whom atherosclerotic renal artery disease was identified by means of MRA from 1998 to 2001.

A prospective open-label randomised trial of quinapril and/or amlodipine in progressive non-diabetic renal failure.

Background: Treatment of hypertension slows the progression of non-diabetic nephropathies, but the optimal regimen is unknown. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors are more effective than beta-blockers, but their merits relative to calcium channel blockers are less clear.

Methods: 73 hypertensive patients with progressive non-diabetic nephropathies were prospectively randomised to open-label quinapril (Q, n = 28), amlodipine (A, n = 28) or both drugs (Q&A, n = 17).

A cognitive behavioral group approach to enhance adherence to hemodialysis fluid restrictions: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Adhering to fluid restrictions represents one of the most difficult aspects of the hemodialysis treatment regimen. This report describes a randomized controlled trial of a group-based cognitive behavioral intervention aimed at improving fluid-restriction adherence in patients receiving hemodialysis. It was hypothesized that the intervention would improve adherence, measured by means of interdialytic weight gain (IWG), without impacting negatively on psychosocial functioning.

Early initiation of dialysis fails to prolong survival in patients with end-stage renal failure.

There is a trend to start dialysis earlier in patients with chronic renal failure. Studies that suggest improved survival from earlier initiation of dialysis are flawed in that they have measured survival from start of dialysis rather than from a time point before dialysis, when patients have the same renal function. This flaw is termed lead-time bias.

Comparative effects of cerivastatin and fenofibrate on the atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype in proteinuric renal disease.

Patients with nephrotic-range proteinuria have impaired clearance of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins. This results in the atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype (mild hypertriglyceridemia, low high-density lipoproteins [HDL], and excess small, dense low-density lipoproteins [LDLIII]). Excess remnant lipoproteins (RLP) are linked to hypertriglyceridemia and may contribute to the atherogenicity of nephrotic dyslipidemia.