Estimates of eskd risk and timely kidney replacement therapy education.

Background: Kidney replacement therapy (KRT) needs preparation and its timing is difficult to predict. Nephrologists' predictions of kidney failure risk tend to be more pessimistic than the Kidney Failure Risk Equation (KFRE) predictions. We aimed to explore how physicians' risk estimate related to referral to KRT education, vs.

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Urine Ammonium Concentrations and Cardiovascular and Kidney Outcomes in Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial Participants with CKD.

Key Points: Among nondiabetic individuals with hypertension and CKD, higher urine ammonium concentration is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Urine ammonium was not associated with all-cause mortality or CKD progression, AKI, or linear eGFR decline in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial cohort.

Background: Impaired urine ammonium excretion is common in CKD and may identify risk of metabolic acidosis earlier than reductions in serum bicarbonate or pH and thus may have associations with cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes.

Difference between kidney function by cystatin C versus creatinine and association with muscle mass and frailty.

Background: A higher difference in estimated glomerular filtration rate by cystatin C versus creatinine (eGFRDiff = eGFRCys - eGFRCreat) is associated with decreased frailty risk. Since eGFRCreat is influenced by muscle more than eGFRCys, muscle mass may explain this association. Previous work could not account for this when considering regional muscle measures by imaging.

Cystatin C Use for CKD Detection in the Veterans Health Administration System: A Qualitative Study of Barriers and Facilitators.

Rationale & Objective: The measurement of cystatin C has been recommended to enhance chronic kidney disease (CKD) detection and risk stratification in clinical practice. This study gathered insights into the perceptions and experiences of clinical staff regarding the use of cystatin C in CKD detection within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system.

Study Design: A qualitative approach was employed to explore barriers and facilitators of clinical staff regarding the use of cystatin C in CKD detection within the VHA system.

Proneurotensin/Neuromedin N and Risk of Incident CKD and Other Kidney Outcomes in Community-Living Individuals: The REGARDS Study.

Rationale & Objective: Plasma proneurotensin/neuromedin N (pro-NT/NMN) is a precursor of neurotensin, a tridecapeptide linked with type 2 diabetes mellitus and other comorbid conditions associated with kidney disease. Whether pro-NT/NMN is directly associated with incident chronic kidney disease (CKD), and whether that association differs by race, is uncertain. We evaluated whether pro-NT/NMN levels were associated with increased risk of kidney outcomes.

Cystatin C- and Creatinine-based Estimated GFR Differences: Prevalence and Predictors in the UK Biobank.

Rationale & Objective: Large differences between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) based on cystatin C (eGFRcys) and creatinine (eGFRcr) occur commonly. A comprehensive evaluation of factors that contribute to these differences is needed to guide the interpretation of discrepant eGFR values.

Study Design: Cohort study.

Decision-Making Engagement Preferences among Older Adults with CKD.

Key Points: Clinicians’ uncertainty about the degree to which older patients prefer to engage in decision making remains a key barrier to shared decision making. Most older adults with advanced CKD preferred a collaborative or active role in decision making.

Background: Older adults with kidney failure face preference-sensitive decisions regarding dialysis initiation.

Plasma proenkephalin A and incident chronic kidney disease and albuminuria in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort.

Background: Plasma proenkephalin A (PENK-A) is a precursor of active enkephalins. Higher blood concentrations have been associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline in European populations. Due to the significant disparity in incident chronic kidney disease (CKD) between White and Black people, we evaluated the association of PENK-A with incident CKD and other kidney outcomes among a biracial cohort in the U.

Tubule dysfunction and injury and future risk of sepsis-associated acute kidney injury.

Background: Novel biomarkers can quantify both kidney tubule function, including proximal tubule reabsorptive (urine α-1 microglobulin (uα1m)) and tubule protein synthesis capacities (urine uromodulin (uUMOD)), and tubular injury (urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL)). In a blood pressure trial, we reported that lower reabsorptive and synthetic protein capacity at times of health predicted future risk of acute kidney injury (AKI), but most AKI was related to hemodynamic causes in this trial. Associations between tubular function and injury and future AKI related to other causes is unknown.

Development and Validation of the Rating of CKD Knowledge Among Older Adults (Know-CKD) With Kidney Failure.

Rationale & Objective: Few older adults with kidney failure engage in shared decision making (SDM) for kidney replacement therapy. The lack of instruments to assess SDM-relevant knowledge domains may contribute to this. We assessed the reliability and validity of a new instrument, the Rating of CKD Knowledge Older Adults (Know-CKD).

Urine Uromodulin, Kidney Tubulointerstitial Fibrosis, and Furosemide Response.

Background: Interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IFTA) are common findings on biopsy in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and are strongly predictive of kidney failure. IFTA is poorly correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria, the most common measures of kidney function. Thus, IFTA is prognostically important, yet its presence and severity are invisible to the clinician except when kidney biopsies are obtained.

Lost in Translation: Why Are Rates of Hypertension Control Getting Worse Over Time?

Treatment of hypertension to decrease rates of cardiovascular disease is the most well studied and most broadly applicable treatment in cardiovascular prevention. Blood pressure can be measured anywhere, not just in a physician's office; medications are readily available, inexpensive, and have highly favorable benefit/harm ratios with relatively minimal side effects; and stepped medication regimens can be prescribed in algorithmic fashion by a variety of practitioners. Yet overall hypertension control rates in the United States have never exceeded 60%, and the last 5-10 years have seen decreased, rather than increased, rates of control.

Markers of Kidney Tubule Dysfunction and Major Adverse Kidney Events.

Background: Serum creatinine and albuminuria are primary markers of glomerular function and injury, respectively. Tubular secretion, acid-base homeostasis, protein reabsorption, among other tubular functions, are largely ignored. This mini-review aimed to discuss how two tubular functions, secretion, and acid-base homeostasis are associated with major adverse kidney events (MAKEs).

Estimated GFR Accuracy When Cystatin C- and Creatinine-Based Estimates Are Discrepant in Older Adults.

Rationale & Objective: Serum creatinine and cystatin C are used to estimate glomerular filtration rate, but creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFRcr), cystatin C-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFRcys), and combined creatinine- and cystatin C-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFRcr-cys) are often divergent, particularly in older adults. We investigated which estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was more accurate and less biased compared with measured glomerular filtration rate (mGFR).

Study Design: A diagnostic test study from the Berlin Initiative Study.

Relationship of Kidney Tubule Biomarkers with Cognition among Community-Living Elders in the Health ABC Study.

Higher baseline urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin was associated with worse cognitive scores at baseline.Lower concentrations of baseline serum bicarbonate (higher is better) were associated with lower cognitive scores at baseline.We found no associations with urine markers with longitudinal changes in cognition.

Effectiveness of an Intervention to Improve Decision Making for Older Patients With Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease : A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Older patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) face difficult decisions about managing kidney failure, frequently experiencing decisional conflict, regret, and treatment misaligned with preferences.

Objective: To assess whether a decision aid about kidney replacement therapy improved decisional quality compared with usual care.

Design: Multicenter, randomized, controlled trial.

Advantages, Limitations, and Clinical Considerations in Using Cystatin C to Estimate GFR.

Cystatin C has been shown to be a reliable and accurate marker of kidney function across diverse populations. The 2012 Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines recommended using cystatin C to confirm the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) determined by creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and to estimate kidney function when accurate eGFR estimates are needed for clinical decision-making. In the efforts to remove race from eGFR calculations in the United States, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Joint Task Force recommended increasing availability and clinical adoption of cystatin C to assess kidney function.

Improving chronic kidney disease detection and treatment in the United States: the chronic kidney disease cascade of care (C) study protocol.

Background: There are major gaps in the implementation of guideline-concordant care for persons with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The CKD Cascade of Care (C) initiative seeks to improve CKD care by improving detection and treatment of CKD in primary care.

Methods: C is a multi-modal initiative deployed in three major academic medical centers within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System: San Francisco VA, San Diego VA, and Houston VA.

Association of Intra-individual Differences in Estimated GFR by Creatinine Versus Cystatin C With Incident Heart Failure.

Rationale & Objective: Lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is associated with heart failure (HF) risk. However, eGFR based on cystatin C (eGFR) and creatinine (eGFR) may differ substantially within an individual. The clinical implications of these differences for risk of HF among persons with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are unknown.

Treatment Decision Making for Older Kidney Patients during COVID-19.

Background And Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disrupted medical care across health care settings for older patients with advanced CKD. Understanding how shared decision making for kidney treatment decisions was influenced by the uncertainty of an evolving pandemic can provide insights for supporting shared decision making through the current and future public health crises.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We performed thematic and narrative analyses of semistructured interviews with patients (CKD stages 4 and 5, age 70+), care partners, and clinicians from Boston, Portland (Maine), San Diego, and Chicago from August to December 2020.

Cystatin C- and Creatinine-Based Glomerular Filtration Rate Estimation Differences and Muscle Quantity and Functional Status in Older Adults: The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.

Rationale & Objective: The difference in the estimated glomerular filtration rate based on cystatin C and that based on creatinine (eGFRDiff) is known to be associated with frailty and mortality. Creatinine is influenced by muscle mass, more so than cystatin C; we aimed to determine whether eGFRDiff is associated with muscle quantity and to what extent muscle quantity explains the relationship between eGFRDiff and poor functional status.

Study Design: A cohort analysis of the health, aging, and body composition study (HABC).

The Relationship of Kidney Tubule Biomarkers with Brain Imaging in CKD Patients in SPRINT.

Urine biomarker concentrations reflecting kidney tubule injury and dysfunction were not associated with brain MRI measures.Higher eGFR was associated with lower total brain cerebral blood flow.This is the first evaluation of the relationship of kidney tubule biomarkers with brain imaging by MRI in patients with CKD.