Longitudinal serum bicarbonate and mortality risk in older patients with advanced chronic kidney disease: analyses from the EQUAL cohort.

Background: We aimed to explore the relationship between serum bicarbonate (SBC) and mortality in advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) during three distinct treatment periods: during the pre-kidney replacement therapy (KRT) period, during the transition phase surrounding the start of KRT (transition-CKD) and during KRT.

Methods: Using the European QUALity Study on treatment in advanced CKD (EQUAL) cohort, which includes patients aged ≥65 years and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≤20 mL/min/1.73 m from six European countries, we explored the association between longitudinal SBC and all-cause mortality in three separate CKD populations: pre-KRT, transition-CKD and in the KRT populations, using multivariable time-dependent Cox regression models.

Overall impact of tethering and of its symmetric and asymmetric subtypes on early and long-term outcome of transcatheter edge-to-edge repair of significant mitral valve regurgitation.

Background: Tethering is a common condition of the mitral valve apparatus in the presence of significant regurgitation. Its impact on outcomes of transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) remains poorly characterized.

Methods: We appraised the prevalence, features, procedural details, and outcomes of patients with or without mitral valve tethering in a prospective multicenter observational study.

Deciphering Structural Complexity of Brain, Joint, and Muscle Tissues Using Fourier Ptychographic Scattered Light Microscopy.

Fourier Ptychographic Microscopy (FPM) provides high-resolution imaging and morphological information over large fields of view, while Computational Scattered Light Imaging (ComSLI) excels at mapping interwoven fiber organization in unstained tissue sections. This study introduces Fourier Ptychographic Scattered Light Microscopy (FP-SLM), a new multi-modal approach that combines FPM and ComSLI analyses to create both high-resolution phase-contrast images and fiber orientation maps from a single measurement. The method is demonstrated on brain sections (frog, monkey) and sections from thigh muscle and knee (mouse).

Effect of the allelic background on the phenotype of primary hyperoxaluria type I.

Purpose Of Review: Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) is an autosomal recessive disorder of hepatic glyoxylate metabolism leading to nephrolithiasis and kidney failure. PH1 is caused by mutations on the AGXT gene encoding alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGT). The AGXT gene has two haplotypes, the major (Ma) and the minor (mi) alleles.