Publications by authors named "Lafrance J"

Background: Older patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) often do not receive optimal pharmacological treatment. Current clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) do not incorporate the concept of personalised care. Clinical decision support (CDS) algorithms that consider both evidence and personalised care to improve patient outcomes can improve the care of older adults.

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Background: Clinical decision-support (CDS) tools are systems that provide healthcare providers (HCPs) with recommendations based on knowledge and patient-specific factors to facilitate informed decisions.

Objectives: To identify the key components of a CDS tool that are most important to HCPs in caring for older adults with kidney disease, and to understand the facilitators and barriers toward using CDS tools in daily clinical practice.

Methods: Design: A cross-sectional survey of Canadian HCPs was undertaken.

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Background: Patients with advanced chronic kidney disease have lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL) than the general population. There is uncertainty regarding patterns of HRQOL changes before dialysis initiation. This study aimed to characterise HRQOL trajectory and assess its potential association with intended dialysis modality.

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Aims: Previously, retinoids have decreased CYP2D6 mRNA expression in vitro and induced CYP3A4 in vitro and in vivo. This study aimed to determine whether isotretinoin administration changes CYP2D6 and CYP3A activities in patients with severe acne.

Methods: Thirty-three patients (22 females and 11 males, 23.

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Evidence-based medicine is pivotal to contemporary clinical practice, and the excellence of a healthcare institution is measured by the adherence of its clinical staff to the clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) among other standards and policies. Following the recommendations of CPGs in older adults poses different challenges to prescribers. In this narrative review we explore research studies that assessed clinicians' adherence to CPGs when prescribing to older adults with chronic kidney disease and its concordant disorders, and to discuss the potential barriers and facilitators to better adherence to CPGs.

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Key Points: A single bolus of tinzaparin is effective for 8-hour hemodialysis session. Eight-hour simulation sessions with anti-Xa monitoring are useful to adjust tinzaparin dose.

Background: Few studies have assessed the use of low-molecular weight heparins for anticoagulation during extended hemodialysis (HD) sessions.

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The mechanism of cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) induction during pregnancy has not been evaluated in humans. This study assessed the changes in CYP2D6 and CYP3A activities during pregnancy and postpartum, and the effect of vitamin A administration on CYP2D6 activity. Forty-seven pregnant CYP2D6 extensive metabolizers (with CYP2D6 activity scores of 1 to 2) received dextromethorphan (DM) 30 mg orally as a single dose during 3 study windows (at 25 to 28 weeks of gestation, study day 1; at 28 to 32 weeks of gestation, study day 2; and at ≥3 months postpartum, study day 3).

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Background: Renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASi) are not re-initiated for almost a quarter of patients who suffered acute kidney injury 6 months after discharge. This discontinuation might be partly explained by the nephrotoxicity of these medications, yet they remain of benefit, especially for patients with heart failure.

Objective: To determine the factors deemed by clinicians to influence RASi re-initiation and set threshold values for important safety parameters.

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Introduction: Diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause of kidney failure. Clinical practice guidelines recommend prescribing renin-angiotensin aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASi) to prevent diabetic nephropathy at any stage. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the effects of RAASi with placebo and other antihypertensive agents in adults with diabetes on continuous and binary kidney outcomes to provide a comprehensive review of the class effect of RAASi on several subgroups.

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Vitamin A is vital to maternal-fetal health and pregnancy outcomes. However, little is known about pregnancy associated changes in maternal vitamin A homeostasis and concentrations of circulating retinol metabolites. The goal of this study was to characterize retinoid concentrations in healthy women ( = 23) during two stages of pregnancy (25-28 weeks gestation and 28-32 weeks gestation) as compared to ≥3 months postpartum.

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Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) imposes a substantial burden owing to its increasing prevalence and life-threatening complications. In patients who do not achieve glycemic targets with oral antidiabetic drugs, the initiation of insulin is recommended. However, a serious concern regarding insulin is drug-induced hypoglycemia.

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The prevalence of obesity continues to rise, underscoring the need to better understand the pathways mediating adipose tissue (AT) expansion. All-trans-retinoic acid (atRA), a bioactive vitamin A metabolite, regulates adipogenesis and energy metabolism, and, in rodent studies, aberrant vitamin A metabolism appears a key facet of metabolic dysregulation. The relevance of these findings to human disease is unknown, as are the specific enzymes implicated in vitamin A metabolism within human AT.

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Background: Quantification of the M-type phospholipase A2 receptor antibodies (anti-PLA2R) is now an essential tool for diagnosis and management of primary membranous nephropathy (MN). Since October 2018, Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (HMR) has been designated as Quebec's reference center for serum anti-PLA2R antibody testing by the (INESSS), the regulatory body on drugs and tests usage in Quebec.

Objectives: To describe the 2-step method of serum qualitative and quantitative anti-PLA2R antibody testing during its first year of use in Quebec and analyze its diagnostic value in the province's population.

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Health state utilities (HSU) data collected in real-world evidence studies are at risk of bias. Although numerous guidance documents are available, practical advice to avoid bias in HSU studies is limited. Thus, the objective of this article was to develop a concise toolbox intended for investigators seeking to collect HSU in a real-world setting.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to assess how taking conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs) alongside biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs) affects adherence, switching, and dosage among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
  • - Conducted across Canada and the U.S., the research involved over 20,000 new users of bDMARDs, finding that csDMARDs did not significantly lower the rates of discontinuation or switching of bDMARDs, but there was a slight increase in bDMARD dosage.
  • - Overall, the results indicated that using csDMARDs concurrently with bDMARDs showed no substantial benefits regarding the persistence of treatment or switching, challenging previous assumptions about their effectiveness in
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Background: Acute kidney Injury (AKI) in children undergoing cardiac surgery (CS) is strongly associated with hospital morbidity. Post-discharge CS AKI outcomes are less clear. We evaluated associations between AKI and post-discharge (a) healthcare utilization, (b) chronic kidney disease (CKD) or hypertension and (c) mortality.

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Background And Objectives: There is a renewed interest in the successful use of aminoglycosides due to increasing resistance in gram-negative infections. Few studies to date have examined the pharmacokinetics (PK) of intradialytic infusions of tobramycin. This study sought to characterize the pharmacokinetic profile of intradialytically administered tobramycin in infected patients receiving chronic intermittent hemodialysis and to determine whether it is possible to achieve favorable PK targets.

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Morbid obesity in kidney transplant (KT) candidates is associated with increased complications and graft failure. Multiple series have demonstrated rapid and significant weight loss after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) in this population. Long-term and post-transplant weight evolutions are still largely unknown.

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Background: Kidney failure is associated with a high burden of morbidity and mortality. Previous studies have raised the possibility that arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation may attenuate eGFR decline. This study aimed to compare eGFR decline in predialysis patients with an AVF, matched to patients oriented toward peritoneal dialysis (PD).

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Background: Estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in acute kidney injury (AKI) is challenging, with limited data comparing estimated and gold standard methods to assess GFR. The objective of our study was to assess the performance of the kinetic estimated GFR (KeGFR) and Jelliffe equations to estimate GFR in AKI, using a radioisotopic method (technetium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) as a reference measure.

Methods: We conducted a prospective multicenter observational study in hospitalized patients with AKI.

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Article Synopsis
  • All-trans-retinoic acid (atRA) is a crucial signaling molecule derived from vitamin A, with key roles in all chordates, and its metabolism involves enzymes Cyp26a1 and Cyp26b1.
  • Researchers created mouse models to investigate the functions of these enzymes, finding that the absence of Cyp26b1 led to severe inflammatory skin conditions and other health issues, while Cyp26a1 alone did not result in significant problems.
  • The study concluded that Cyp26b1 is vital for maintaining retinoid homeostasis in postnatal mammals, as its knockout significantly raised atRA levels across various organs.
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Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health issue and cardiovascular risk factor. Validity assessment of administrative data for the detection of CKD in research for drug benefit and risk using real-world data is important. Existing algorithms have limitations and we need to develop new algorithms using administrative data, giving the importance of drug benefit/risk ratio in real world.

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Introduction: To prevent bleeding after native kidney biopsy (NKB), nephrologists often prescribe desmopressin, especially for patients with reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at risk of uremia-related platelet dysfunction. However, only 1 randomized study has suggested a beneficial effect for desmopressin in patients with eGFR ≥60 ml/min per 1.73 m.

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Background: Patients receiving chronic hemodialysis treatments are at a higher risk of fracture compared to the general population. While the use of heparin during dialysis is crucial to avoid thrombosis of the extracorporeal circuit, the association of unfractionated heparin (UFH) and the risk of osteoporotic fracture has been shown for many years. However, this association was not as clear for low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) and the few collected data originated from studies among pregnant women.

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