Development of Prediction Models for Severe Pain and Urinary Symptoms After Ureteroscopy With Ureteral Stent Placement: Results From the STENTS Study and Initial Validation of Pain Interference.

Purpose: We developed prediction models for severe pain and urinary symptoms after ureteroscopy with ureteral stent placement.

Materials And Methods: The development cohort included 424 adults and adolescents enrolled in the multicenter STENTS prospective cohort study who underwent ureteroscopy with stent placement for urinary stones. The validation cohort was an independent prospective cohort of 115 adults.

Predicting long-term survival among patients with HCC.

Background: Prognosticating survival among patients with HCC and cirrhosis must account for both the tumor burden/stage, as well as the severity of the underlying liver disease. Although there are many staging systems used to guide therapy, they have not been widely adopted to predict patient-level survival after the diagnosis of HCC. We sought to develop a score to predict long-term survival among patients with early- to intermediate-stage HCC using purely objective criteria.

Adjudication of Self-reported Symptomatic Stone Recurrence in the Prevention of Urinary Stones With Hydration Trial.

Objective: To assess accuracy of self-reported stone events in a large clinical trial by adjudication against the weight of documentation for spontaneous stone passage or surgical intervention.

Methods: Participants in the Prevention of Urinary Stones with Hydration (PUSH) trial were randomized to a multi-component behavioral intervention or control arm to increase and maintain high fluid intake. The primary endpoint was urinary stone events including symptomatic stone passage or procedural intervention.

Cardiac Effects of Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibitors in Nonproteinuric CKD.

Background: In contrast to proteinuric chronic kidney disease (CKD), the relative cardioprotective benefits of antihypertensive medications in nonproteinuric CKD are unknown. We examined long-term cardiovascular outcomes and mortality in patients with nonproteinuric CKD treated with renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASIs) versus other antihypertensive medications.

Methods: Among participants of the CRIC study (Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort) without proteinuria, we used intention-to-treat analyses with inverse probability of treatment weighting and Cox proportional hazards modeling to determine the association of RASIs versus other antihypertensive medications with a composite cardiovascular outcome (myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure hospitalization, and death) and mortality.