Optimizing use of an electronic medical record system for quality improvement initiatives in hemodialysis: Review of a single center experience.

Introduction: The complexity of managing patients with end-stage kidney disease on hemodialysis underscores the importance of implementing quality improvement (QI) initiatives to enhance patient safety and prioritize patient-centered care. To address this, we established a QI committee at our tertiary academic center focusing on evidence-based practices, patient-centered approaches, and cost efficiency. To facilitate the seamless implementation of QI initiatives, we leveraged the capabilities of our electronic medical record (EMR) system.

Meta-analysis evaluating apixaban in patients with atrial fibrillation and end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis.

Background: Warfarin is considered the primary oral anticoagulant for patients with atrial fibrillation and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis. Although warfarin can offer significant stroke prevention in this population, the accompanying major bleeding risks make warfarin nearly prohibitive. Apixaban was shown to be superior to warfarin in preventing stroke or systemic embolism, with a lower risk of bleeding and mortality in a large, randomized trial of individuals with mostly normal renal function but none with ESRD.

Medication Deprescribing in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis: A Prospective Controlled Quality Improvement Study.

Rationale & Objective: Patients treated with dialysis are commonly prescribed multiple medications (polypharmacy), including some potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). PIMs are associated with an increased risk of medication harm (eg, falls, fractures, hospitalization). Deprescribing is a solution that proposes to stop, reduce, or switch medications to a safer alternative.

The Burden of Home Dialysis: An Overlooked Challenge.

Home dialysis offers several clinical and quality-of-life benefits for patients with kidney failure. However, it is important to recognize that home dialysis may place an increased burden on patients and their care partners. Sources of burden may include concerns about the ability to adequately and safely perform dialysis at home, physical symptoms, impairment of life participation, psychosocial challenges, and care partner burnout.

Volume Status Assessment by Lung Ultrasound in End-Stage Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review.

Purpose Of Review: Lung ultrasound is a noninvasive bedside technique that can accurately assess pulmonary congestion by evaluating extravascular lung water. This technique is expanding and is easily available. Our primary outcome was to compare the efficacy of volume status assessment by lung ultrasound with clinical evaluation, echocardiography, bioimpedance, or biomarkers.

Outcomes of Integrated Home Dialysis Care: Results From the Canadian Organ Replacement Register.

Rationale & Objective: The integrated home dialysis model proposes the initiation of kidney replacement therapy (KRT) with peritoneal dialysis (PD) and a timely transition to home hemodialysis (HHD) after PD ends. We compared the outcomes of patients transitioning from PD to HHD with those initiating KRT with HHD.

Study Design: Observational analysis of the Canadian Organ Replacement Register (CORR).

Electronic Decision Support for Deprescribing in Patients on Hemodialysis: Clinical Research Protocol for a Prospective, Controlled, Quality Improvement Study.

Background: Patients on dialysis are commonly prescribed multiple medications (polypharmacy), many of which are potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). Potentially inappropriate medications are associated with an increased risk of falls, fractures, and hospitalization. MedSafer is an electronic tool that generates individualized, prioritized reports with deprescribing opportunities by cross-referencing patient health data and medications with guidelines for deprescribing.

Home hemodialysis technique survival: insights and challenges.

Home hemodialysis (HHD) offers several clinical, quality of life and cost-saving benefits for patients with end-stage kidney disease. While uptake of this modality has increased in recent years, its prevalence remains low and high rates of discontinuation remain a challenge. This comprehensive narrative review aims to better understand what is currently known about technique survival in HHD patients, elucidate the clinical factors that contribute to attrition and expand on possible strategies to prevent discontinuation.

Psychotropic Drugs and Adverse Kidney Effects: A Systematic Review of the Past Decade of Research.

Background And Objective: Psychotropic drugs are a heterogenous group of treatments prescribed for many psychiatric disorders, often for long periods. Their effects on the kidney and its functioning are complex and a source of significant research and debate. This article aims to review recent evidence of the acute and chronic kidney adverse events of diverse psychotropes.

Low-dose trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for the treatment of pneumonia (LOW-TMP): protocol for a phase III randomised, placebo-controlled, dose-comparison trial.

Introduction: pneumonia (PJP) is an opportunistic infection of immunocompromised hosts with significant morbidity and mortality. The current standard of care, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) at a dose of 15-20 mg/kg/day, is associated with serious adverse drug events (ADE) in 20%-60% of patients. ADEs include hypersensitivity reactions, drug-induced liver injury, cytopenias and renal failure, all of which can be treatment limiting.

Targeted Cancer Therapies Causing Elevations in Serum Creatinine Through Tubular Secretion Inhibition: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Rationale: Targeted cancer therapies have revolutionized the field of oncology by selecting for specific molecular pathways, thus improving overall clinical prognosis. However, many of these targeted treatments have been reported to have adverse kidney effects, including acute kidney injury, interstitial nephritis, and glomerular disease. Furthermore, some of these targeted therapies have also been found to cause an asymptomatic rise in serum creatinine levels through inhibition of active tubular secretion.

Deprescribing Opportunities for Hospitalized Patients With End-Stage Kidney Disease on Hemodialysis: A Secondary Analysis of the MedSafer Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: End-stage kidney disease patients on dialysis have a substantial risk of polypharmacy due their propensity for comorbidity and contact with the health care system. MedSafer is an electronic decision support tool that integrates patient comorbidity and medication lists to generate personalized deprescribing reports focused on identifying potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs).

Objective: To conduct a secondary analysis of patients on regular hemodialysis included in the MedSafer randomized controlled trial to investigate the patterns of polypharmacy and evaluate the efficacy of the MedSafer deprescribing algorithms.

Home versus In-Center Dialysis and Day of the Week Hospitalization: A Cohort Study.

Background: The dialysis treatment day after the 2-day interdialytic interval (Monday/Tuesday) is associated with a heightened risk of hospitalization for patients on in-center hemodialysis (ICHD). In this national cohort study, we sought to characterize hospitalizations by day of the week for patients receiving ICHD, home HD (HHD), and peritoneal dialysis (PD) and to identify whether there were differences in the probability of a Monday/Tuesday admission for each modality type.

Methods: Patients on maintenance dialysis in Canada were analyzed from 2005 to 2014 using the Canadian Organ Replacement Register.

Long-term Effects of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention Versus a Health Enhancement Program for Treating Depression and Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Depression and anxiety affect approximately 50% of patients with kidney failure receiving hemodialysis and are associated with decreased quality of life and increased risk of hospitalization and mortality. A Brief Mindfulness Intervention (BMI) may be promising in treating depressive and anxiety symptoms in this population, but the long-term sustainability of the intervention's effects is unknown.

Objective: We previously conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT; n = 55) comparing an 8-week BMI with an active control (Health Enhancement Program [HEP]) for patients receiving dialysis, with depression and/or anxiety.

Do Brief Mindfulness Interventions (BMI) and Health Enhancement Programs (HEP) Improve Sleep in Patients in Hemodialysis with Depression and Anxiety?

(1) Objective: to determine if a brief mindfulness intervention (BMI) and a health education program (HEP) could improve measures of insomnia in patients undergoing hemodialysis. (2) Methods: this was a planned secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial of BMI vs. HEP for hemodialysis patients with depression and/or anxiety symptoms.

Brief Mindfulness Intervention vs. Health Enhancement Program for Patients Undergoing Dialysis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Between 20-50% of patients undergoing maintenance dialysis for end-stage kidney disease experience symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, associated with increased mortality, greater health care utilization, and decreased quality of life. It is unknown whether mindfulness-based interventions can improve depression and anxiety symptoms in patients receiving this treatment.

Methods: We conducted an 8-week multicenter randomized controlled trial comparing a brief mindfulness intervention (BMI) vs.

Utility of Abdominal Imaging in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients Presenting With Peritonitis.

Background: Peritonitis remains a major complication in peritoneal dialysis (PD). Abdominal imaging is often performed in the setting of peritonitis to evaluate for concomitant intra-abdominal processes. However, the usefulness of this procedure is unknown.

Ventricular ejection fraction over time in patients on intensive home hemodialysis: A retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: Intensive hemodialysis has been demonstrated to have several beneficial cardiovascular effects. There is a paucity of studies examining the effect of intensive home hemodialysis (IHHD) on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study at the Toronto General Hospital including all IHHD patients between 1999 and 2017 with baseline and follow-up echocardiograms for at least a year.

The Potential Burden of Home Dialysis on Patients and Caregivers: A Narrative Review.

Purpose Of Review: Home dialysis modalities offer several benefits for patients with end-stage kidney disease when compared with facility-based thrice-weekly hemodialysis. To increase uptake of home dialysis, many centers are encouraging a "home-first" approach. However, it is important to appreciate that "one size may not fit all" and that dialysis modality selection is a complex decision that needs to be individualized.

A comparison of technique survival in Canadian peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis patients.

Background: High discontinuation rates remain a challenge for home hemodialysis (HHD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD). We compared technique failure risks among Canadian patients receiving HHD and PD.

Methods: Using the Canadian Organ Replacement Register, we studied adult patients who initiated HHD or PD within 1 year of beginning dialysis between 2000 and 2012, with follow-up until 31 December 2013.

Dialysis modality and survival: Done to death.

The debate surrounding whether peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis is associated with differential survival continues as the numerous comparative studies over the past 3 decades have yielded conflicting results. Findings have also evolved over time in the setting of changing patient characteristics, advances in dialytic technologies, and the use of more robust statistical and epidemiologic approaches. Here, we will critically review the body of evidence, both historical and contemporary, comparing survival across dialysis modalities.

Increased Serum Lactate in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients Presenting with Intercurrent Illness.

Background: Lactate is the most commonly used buffer in peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions. While previous studies have shown that serum lactate is normal in stable PD patients, the purpose of our study was to evaluate whether abnormal lactate values are more common in PD patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) and have the same significance as in the general population.

Methods: This observational cohort study assessed the prevalence of elevated serum lactate in PD patients presenting to the ED and evaluated clinical factors associated with an abnormal lactate value.

Racial Differences in Home Dialysis Utilization and Outcomes in Canada.

Background And Objectives: Data on racial disparities in home dialysis utilization and outcomes are lacking in Canada, where health care is universally available.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We studied patients starting maintenance dialysis between 1996 and 2012 in the Canadian Organ Replacement Register, stratified by race: white, Asian, black, Aboriginal, Indian subcontinent, and other. The association between race and treatment with home dialysis was examined using generalized linear models.