Impact of Precision in Staging Acute Kidney Injury and Chronic Kidney Disease on Treatment Outcomes: An Observational Study.

(1) Background: "Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes" (KDIGO) provides guidelines for identifying the stages of acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). A data-driven rule-based engine was developed to determine KDIGO staging compared to KD-related keywords in discharge letters. (2) Methods: To assess potential differences in outcomes, we compare the patient subgroups with exact KDIGO staging to imprecise or missing staging for all-cause mortality, in-hospital mortality, selection bias and costs by applying Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox proportional hazards regression model.

First-trimester glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and maternal characteristics in the prediction of gestational diabetes: An observational cohort study.

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the extent to which gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) can be predicted in the first trimester by combining a marker of growing interest, glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and maternal characteristics.

Material And Methods: This observational study was conducted in the outpatient obstetric department of our institution. The values of HbA1c and venous random plasma glucose were prospectively assessed in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Recovery from chronic depression and structural change: 5-year outcomes after psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioural long-term treatments (LAC depression study).

Objective: Psychotherapy of chronic depression has remained a challenge due to limited prognosis and high rates of recurrence. We present 5-year outcome data from a multicentre trial comparing psychoanalytic (PAT) and cognitive-behavioural (CBT) long-term treatments with randomized and preferred allocations analysing symptom (N = 227) and structural change (N = 134) trajectories.

Method: Self- and blinded expert ratings of depression symptoms were performed at yearly intervals using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms (QIDS-C).

Real-world Health Data and Precision for the Diagnosis of Acute Kidney Injury, Acute-on-Chronic Kidney Disease, and Chronic Kidney Disease: Observational Study.

Background: The criteria for the diagnosis of kidney disease outlined in the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes guidelines are based on a patient's current, historical, and baseline data. The diagnosis of acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and acute-on-chronic kidney disease requires previous measurements of creatinine, back-calculation, and the interpretation of several laboratory values over a certain period. Diagnoses may be hindered by unclear definitions of the individual creatinine baseline and rough ranges of normal values that are set without adjusting for age, ethnicity, comorbidities, and treatment.

Effects of Freezing and Thawing Procedures on Selected Clinical Chemistry Parameters in Plasma.

Measurements from frozen sample collections are important key indicators in clinical studies. It is a prime concern of biobanks and laboratories to minimize preanalytical bias and variance through standardization. In this study, we aimed at assessing the effects of different freezing and thawing conditions on the reproducibility of medical routine parameters from frozen samples.

Renal Function-Adjusted D-Dimer Levels in Critically Ill Patients With Suspected Thromboembolism.

Objectives: Diagnosing thromboembolic disease typically includes D-dimer testing and use of clinical scores in patients with low to intermediate pretest probability. However, renal dysfunction is often observed in patients with thromboembolic disease and was previously shown to be associated with increased D-dimer levels. We seek to validate previously suggested estimated glomerular filtration rate-adjusted D-dimer cutoff levels.

Thrombin generation measurement using the ST Genesia Thrombin Generation System in a cohort of healthy adults: Normal values and variability.

Background: Thrombin generation (TG) assays evaluate the balance between pro- and anticoagulant forces, to better assess bleeding and thrombotic risks. Although TG readouts obtained with the calibrated automated TG have been investigated in multiple clinical conditions, TG still needs standardization and clinical validation. The automated TG instrument ST Genesia® (STG, Stago, Asnières-sur-Seine, France) provides a normalization of TG parameters based on a reference plasma aiming to reduce the interlaboratory variability and the variability between different measurement runs.

Metabolomics by UHPLC-MS: benefits provided by complementary use of Q-TOF and QQQ for pathway profiling.

Introduction: Non-targeted metabolic profiling using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) is a standard approach for pathway identification despite technical limitations.

Objectives: To assess the performance of combining targeted quadrupole (QQQ) analysis with HRMS for in-depth pathway profiling.

Methods: Serum of exercising patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) was profiled using targeted and non-targeted assays.

Differential effects of ischemia/reperfusion on endothelial function and contractility in donation after circulatory death.

Background: Donation after circulatory death (DCD) could significantly improve cardiac graft availability. However, DCD hearts undergo potentially deleterious warm ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). As endothelial damage is a key factor in cardiac I/R injury, we aimed to investigate the tolerance of cardiac and endothelial function after various durations of warm ischemia to improve the timing and choice of cardioprotective therapies.

How to measure sustained psychic transformations in long-term treatments of chronically depressed patients: Symptomatic and structural changes in the LAC Depression Study of the outcome of cognitive-behavioural and psychoanalytic long-term treatments.

Worldwide, the pressure on psychoanalysis to prove the results of its treatments according to the criteria of so-called evidence-based medicine has increased. While a large number of studies on the results of psychoanalytic short-term therapies are now available, such studies are still largely lacking on psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic long-term therapies. In a large multicentre study, the results of psychoanalytical and cognitive-behavioural longterm therapies in chronically depressed patients were compared, Both psychotherapies led to statistically highly significant changes in depressive symptoms three years after the start of the treatments However, the focus of psychoanalytic treatments is not exclusively on reducing psychopathological symptoms, but on changes in the inner world of the patients that are reminiscent of the goal of psychoanalyses that Freud has characterized as developing "the ability to love, work and enjoy life.

Outcome of Psychoanalytic and Cognitive-Behavioural Long-Term Therapy with Chronically Depressed Patients: A Controlled Trial with Preferential and Randomized Allocation.

Objective: For chronic depression, the effectiveness of brief psychotherapy has been limited. This study is the first comparing the effectiveness of long-term cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and long-term psychoanalytic therapy (PAT) of chronically depressed patients and the effects of preferential or randomized allocation.

Methods: A total of 252 adults met the inclusion criteria (aged 21-60 years, major depression, dysthymia, double depression for at least 24 months, Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms [QIDS] >9, Beck Depression Inventory II [BDI] >17, informed consent, not meeting exclusion criteria).

Cardioprotective reperfusion strategies differentially affect mitochondria: Studies in an isolated rat heart model of donation after circulatory death (DCD).

Donation after circulatory death (DCD) holds great promise for improving cardiac graft availability; however, concerns persist regarding injury following warm ischemia, after donor circulatory arrest, and subsequent reperfusion. Application of preischemic treatments is limited for ethical reasons; thus, cardioprotective strategies applied at graft procurement (reperfusion) are of particular importance in optimizing graft quality. Given the key role of mitochondria in cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury, we hypothesize that 3 reperfusion strategies-mild hypothermia, mechanical postconditioning, and hypoxia, when briefly applied at reperfusion onset-provoke mitochondrial changes that may underlie their cardioprotective effects.

Dynamic multivoxel-localized P MRS during plantar flexion exercise with variable knee angle.

Exercise studies investigating the metabolic response of calf muscles using P MRS are usually performed with a single knee angle. However, during natural movement, the distribution of workload between the main contributors to force, gastrocnemius and soleus is influenced by the knee angle. Hence, it is of interest to measure the respective metabolic response of these muscles to exercise as a function of knee angle using localized spectroscopy.

The plasma lipidome in acute myeloid leukemia at diagnosis in relation to clinical disease features.

Background: Early studies established that certain lipids were lower in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells than normal leukocytes. Because lipids are now known to play an important role in cell signaling and regulation of homeostasis, and are often perturbed in malignancies, we undertook a comprehensive lipidomic survey of plasma from AML patients at time of diagnosis and also healthy blood donors.

Methods: Plasma lipid profiles were measured using three mass spectrometry platforms in 20 AML patients and 20 healthy blood donors.

A UHPLC-MS/MS method for the quantification of 7α-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one to assist in diagnosis of bile acid malabsorption.

Bile acids malabsorption (BAM) is encountered in numerous gastrointestinal pathologies and is a good example of a treatable cause of watery diarrhea after ileal resection. The gold standard for diagnosing BAM is the selenium homocholic acid taurine test (SeHCAT), an expensive and complex analysis. An alternative method is the quantification of 7α-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one (C4).

Association of the Intestinal Microbiome with the Development of Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most frequent cause of blindness in the elderly. There is evidence that nutrition, inflammation and genetic risk factors play an important role in the development of AMD. Recent studies suggest that the composition of the intestinal microbiome is associated with metabolic diseases through modulation of inflammation and host metabolism.

Controlled Reperfusion Strategies Improve Cardiac Hemodynamic Recovery after Warm Global Ischemia in an Isolated, Working Rat Heart Model of Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD).

Donation after circulatory death (DCD) could improve cardiac graft availability, which is currently insufficient to meet transplant demand. However, DCD organs undergo an inevitable period of warm ischemia and most cardioprotective approaches can only be applied at reperfusion (procurement) for ethical reasons. We investigated whether modifying physical conditions at reperfusion, using four different strategies, effectively improves hemodynamic recovery after warm ischemia.

High sensitive cardiac troponin T: Testing the test.

Background: High sensitive cardiac troponin T (hs-TnT) found its way into everyday clinical routine to diagnose acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, its levels vary considerably based on the underlying pathophysiology of the patients. Hence we sought to test the applicability of the currently only available hs-TnT assay (Roche Diagnostics, Switzerland) to diagnose acute myocardial infarction.