Quantifying comorbidity in peritoneal dialysis patients and its relationship to other predictors of survival.

Background: Comorbidity is the single most important determinant of outcome in patients on renal replacement therapy. The aims of this study were to evaluate a semi-quantitative approach to comorbidity scoring in predicting survival of patients commencing peritoneal dialysis (PD), and to establish the interaction between this and other known predictors of patient outcome, in particular membrane function, residual renal function (RRF) and plasma albumin.

Methods: Comorbidity was recorded in a prospective, single centre cohort study of 303 patients commencing on PD.

Solitary functioning kidney and diverse genital tract malformations associated with hepatocyte nuclear factor-1beta mutations.

Background: Renal tract malformations are, on occasion, associated with uterine malformations. The transcription factor hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1beta is expressed from the earliest stages of development of the Wolffian duct, the mesonephros and metanephros, and the Müllerian ducts in the mouse. In adult mice HNF-1beta is expressed in the kidney tubules, collecting ducts, and in the oviducts and uterus in the female (Müllerian duct derivatives) and in the epididymis, vas deferens and seminal vesicles (Wolffian duct derivatives) in the male.

Peritoneal glucose exposure and changes in membrane solute transport with time on peritoneal dialysis.

Peritoneal solute transport increases with time on treatment in a proportion of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, contributing to ultrafiltration failure. Continuous exposure of the peritoneum to hypertonic glucose solutions results in morphologic damage that may have a causative role in changes in peritoneal function. The purpose of this analysis was to establish whether increased exposure to glucose preceded changes in solute transport in a selected group of long-term PD patients.