Continuous Long-Term Physical Activity Monitoring in Hemodialysis Patients.

Background: Physical inactivity is common in patients receiving hemodialysis, but activity patterns throughout the day and in relation to dialysis are largely unknown. This knowledge gap can be addressed by long-term continuous activity monitoring, but this has not been attempted and may not be acceptable to patients receiving dialysis.

Methods: Ambulatory patients with end-stage kidney disease receiving thrice-weekly hemodialysis wore commercially available wrist-worn activity monitors for 6 months.

Step length and fall risk in adults with chronic kidney disease: a pilot study.

Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease commonly experience gait abnormalities, which predispose to falls and fall-related injuries. An unmet need is the development of improved methods for detecting patients at high risk of these complications, using tools that are feasible to implement in nephrology practice. Our prior work suggested step length could be such a marker.

Anterior leaflet augmentation with autologous pericardium for mitral repair in rheumatic valve insufficiency.

Background And Aim Of The Study: The mechanism of insufficiency in rheumatic valve disease includes annulus dilatation and restricted leaflet motion. In order to improve the treatment of restriction, the anterior mitral leaflet (AML) can be augmented with a piece of glutaraldehyde-treated autologous pericardium.

Methods: Between January 1995 and December 1999, among 274 patients referred for rheumatic mitral disease, 143 (52%) underwent a valve repair.