Semantic segmentation with DenseNets for carotid artery ultrasound plaque segmentation and CIMT estimation.

Background And Objective: The measurement of carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) in ultrasound images can be used to detect the presence of atherosclerotic plaques. Usually, the CIMT estimation strategy is semi-automatic, since it requires: (1) a manual examination of the ultrasound image for the localization of a region of interest (ROI), a fast and useful operation when only a small number of images need to be measured; and (2) an automatic delineation of the CIM region within the ROI. The existing efforts for automating the process have replicated the same two-step structure, resulting in two consecutive independent approaches.

The Spanish Society of Nephrology (SENEFRO) commentary to the Spain GBD 2016 report: Keeping chronic kidney disease out of sight of health authorities will only magnify the problem.

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study measures the health of populations worldwide and by country on an annual basis and aims at helping guide public policy on health issues. The GBD estimates for Spain in 2016 and recent trends in mortality and morbidity from 2006 to 2016 were recently published. According to these estimates, chronic kidney disease was the 8th cause of death in Spain in 2016.

A New Gender-Specific Formula to Estimate 24-Hour Urine Protein from Protein to Creatinine Ratio.

Background: The quantification of proteinuria with the protein to creatinine ratio (PCR) is influenced by the excretion of creatinine, which, in turn, varies according to muscle mass and hence, to gender.

Aims: To assess the difference between urine PCR and 24-hour urine proteinuria in men and women and to provide a formula to overcome bias caused by gender.

Methods: Four hundred and forty four CKD patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: 70% were used to develop the models, while the remaining 30% were reserved to validate the formula.

The pleiotropic effects of paricalcitol: Beyond bone-mineral metabolism.

Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) is a common complication in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) that is characterised by elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels and a series of bone-mineral metabolism anomalies. In patients with SHPT, treatment with paricalcitol, a selective vitamin D receptor activator, has been shown to reduce PTH levels with minimal serum calcium and phosphorus variations. The classic effect of paricalcitol is that of a mediator in mineral and bone homeostasis.

Vitamin D, vitamin D receptor and the importance of its activation in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to many different pathologies, especially with morbimortality in patients with chronic kidney disease. The progressive loss of renal function leads to calcitriol deficiency and homeostatic changes in calcium, phosphorus, FGF-23 and PTH, among others. All these changes can also influence vitamin D receptor (VDR) activation and the development of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT).