Nailfold videocapillaroscopy in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Nailfold videocapillaroscopy was performed in 2 groups of subjects: 14 healthy volunteers (C) and 15 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (PSS). This was a controlled clinical trial, matched by age and sex. The aims of this study were to evaluate (1) functional capillary density (number of capillaries with flowing red blood cells per mm(2), FCD); (2) capillary red blood cell velocity at rest (RBV), maximum capillary red blood cell velocity (RBV(max)) after 1 minute ischemia, and the time to reach it (TRBV(max)), taking into account the presence or absence of Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) in the analysis; (3) nailfold capillary morphology; and (4) afferent (AFD), apical (APD), and efferent (EFD) capillary diameters.

Use of microcirculatory parameters to evaluate chronic venous insufficiency.

Background: Microcirculatory impairment caused by chronic venous hypertension is usually not taken into account in chronic venous insufficiency, probably due to lack of practical means to observe it. The objective of this work was to use a new noninvasive technique to access quantitatively the cutaneous microangiopathy in female patients classified according to CEAP from C1 to C5 and matched with healthy controls.

Methods: Forty-four patients and 13 healthy subjects (112 lower limbs), with a mean age +/- SD of 48 +/- 8 years, were evaluated by using orthogonal polarization spectral (OPS) imaging.

Chronic renal failure in male and female rats.

Gender influences the progression of chronic renal failure (CRF). We studied male (M) and female (F) Wistar rats for 90 days: castrated (CMc,n=7;CFc,n=6) and non castrated controls (CM,n=9;CF,n=6); castrated (CRFMc,n=8; CRFFc,n=6) and non castrated animals submitted to 5/6 nephrectomy (CRFM,n=13;CRFF,n=6). Data are expressed as mean +/-SEM.

Bone disease in patients with chronic kidney disease under conservative management.

Context And Objective: Few studies have focused on bone disease in patients with chronic kidney disease under conservative treatment. The objective was to evaluate bone disease in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Design And Setting: Case series, at the Nephrology Division, Hospital Universitário Pedro Ernesto.

Normal renal dimensions in a specific population.

Introduction: Renal dimensions (RD) are important for the diagnostic and the prognostic of nephropathies.

Materials And Methods: We selected 904 Brazilians subjects with normal excretory urographies, showing dense nephrogram at the 5th minute of the exam, serum creatinine < 1.3mg/dl, and absence of any disease that could modify RD.

Clinical consequences of an individualized dialysate sodium prescription in hemodialysis patients.

Background: Predialysis plasma sodium (Na(+)) concentration is relatively constant in hemodialysis (HD) patients, and a higher dialysate Na(+) concentration can promote an increase in the interdialytic fluid ingestion to achieve an individual's osmolar set point, and individualization of dialysate Na(+) concentration may improve interdialytic weight gain (IDWG), blood pressure (BP), and HD-related symptoms.

Methods: Twenty-seven nondiabetic, non-hypotension prone HD patients were enrolled in a single-blind crossover study. Subjects underwent nine consecutive HD sessions with the dialysate Na(+) concentration set to 138 mEq/L (standard Na(+) HD), followed by nine sessions wherein the dialysate Na(+) was set to match the patients average pre-HD plasma Na(+) measured three times during the standard Na(+) phase multiplied by 0.

The use of peridialysis blood pressure and intradialytic blood pressure changes in the prediction of interdialytic blood pressure in haemodialysis patients.

Objective: It is uncertain which blood pressure values (pre- or post-haemodialysis) best represent the average daily blood pressure in haemodialysis patients. The purpose of this study was to verify the power of peridialysis blood pressure to predict interdialytic blood pressure, and to ascertain the influence of blood pressure fluctuations during dialysis on this predictive ability.

Methods And Results: We performed ambulatory blood pressure monitoring during the interdialytic period on 60 stable haemodialysis patients (mean age 53 +/- 16 years, 33 male) between two mid-week haemodialysis sessions.

Profile of interdialytic blood pressure in hemodialysis patients.

Background And Methods: Hypertension is a common problem in hemodialysis (HD). However, its behavior during the interdialytic period is not completely known and is infrequently monitored in clinical practice. Thus, for better understanding of interdialytic blood pressure (BP), we analyzed the interdialytic blood pressure profile using 44-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) data in 71 unselected, stable HD patients.