Publications by authors named "Mercedes Pons"
Background: To assess whether serum osteoprotegerin (OPG) and/or fetuin-A predict mortality and cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis patients.
Methods: Multicenter, observational, prospective study that included 220 hemodialysis patients followed up for up to 6 years. Serum OPG and fetuin-A levels were measured at baseline and their possible association with clinical characteristics, CV risk biomarkers, carotid ultrasonographic findings, as well as their association with overall and CV mortality and CV events were assessed.
Background: The ESHOL study showed that post-dilution online haemodiafiltration (OL-HDF) reduces all-cause mortality versus haemodialysis. However, during the observation period, 355 patients prematurely completed the study and, according to the study design, these patients were censored at the time of premature termination.
Methods: The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome of patients who discontinued the study.
Background: To evaluate the predictive value of carotid atherosclerotic disease (CAD) and intima-media thickness (IMT) on incident cardiovascular disease and mortality in hemodialysis patients.
Methods: Multicenter, observational, prospective study including 110 patients, followed-up to 6 years. Carotid doppler ultrasonographic findings were classified in 4 degrees of severity: 1) IMT <0.
Article Synopsis
- Patients with dialysis catheters experience higher rates of mortality and morbidity, which is linked to chronic immune system activation and bacterial colonization of the catheters.
- This study evaluated the inflammatory response in hemodialysis patients using an antimicrobial lock solution (TCHLS) by measuring various inflammatory markers before and after treatment.
- Results showed that using TCHLS significantly reduced the incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) and led to a decrease in inflammatory markers, indicating improved inflammation profiles among patients.
Retrospective studies suggest that online hemodiafiltration (OL-HDF) may reduce the risk of mortality compared with standard hemodialysis in patients with ESRD. We conducted a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial in which we assigned 906 chronic hemodialysis patients either to continue hemodialysis (n=450) or to switch to high-efficiency postdilution OL-HDF (n=456). The primary outcome was all-cause mortality, and secondary outcomes included cardiovascular mortality, all-cause hospitalization, treatment tolerability, and laboratory data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Retrospective studies showed that online hemodiafiltration (OL-HDF) is associated with a risk reduction of mortality over standard hemodialysis (HD) in patients with end-stage renal disease. Until now, no information was available from prospective randomized clinical trials.
Methods: A prospective, randomized, multicenter, open study was designed to be conducted in HD units from Catalonia (Spain).