Could plasma cystatin C be useful as a marker of hemodialysis low molecular weight proteins removal?

Background: Plasma cystatin (pCyst) is a well-assessed tool for measuring renal function, and it could also play a part in hemodialysis adequacy.

Methods: pCyst and other uremic toxins (urea, creatinine, parathyroid hormone, prolactin) were assessed before and after a dialysis session in 18 hemodialysis patients: 7 on bicarbonate hemodialysis (BHD) and 11 on mixed convective dialysis (MCD; 6 standard hemodiafiltration and 5 acetate-free biofiltration). Plasma levels and reduction ratios (RR) were then compared between the BHD and MCD groups.

[Homocysteine, folate therapy and outcome in hemodialysis: results from a prospective study].

Background: Despite the well-known effectiveness of folate therapy on hyperhomocysteinemia in hemodialysis, its benefits on outcome are still unclear.

Methods: Sixty-five patients on thrice-weekly maintenance hemodialysis lasting more than 3 months were followed up for 1 year after stratification by predialysis homocysteine level (tHcy). Parenteral folate (25 mg quarterly) and cobalamine (1 mg quarterly) therapy was started only if the tHcy levels were > 30 uM/L at baseline or at scheduled retests (every 7 months).

[Systemic mucormycosis in dialysis: computed tomography picture and histologic lesions].

Mucormycosis (zygomycosis) is an uncommon mycosis which can be contracted from the environment and which is responsible for rhino-orbital, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, cerebral or disseminated infections. Severe immunodepression, such as that caused by leukemia, lymphomata and organ graft, or treatment by desferrioxamine, may predispose to pulmonary and systemic forms. In the present work the authors describe a case of systemic mucormycosis, with unfavourable outcome, which arose in a pediatric peritoneal dialysis patient, then transferred to hemodialysis, without evident predisposing factors.

[Changes in dialysis methods. 10 years' experience].

A retrospective survey has been done on 175 chronic patients who underwent dialysis in one center, between January 1982 and June 1992. The purpose of the work was to evaluate the use of the first treatment and the cause which determined a change of treatment. Diffusive haemodialysis and CAPD were the most frequent first choice techniques, respectively in extracorporeal and peritoneal dialysis, whereas changes were conditioned by the need for a more personalized treatment, especially in the filed of extracorporeal dialysis.

[Evaluation of nutritional status in a group of patients undergoing CAPD].

The onset of a protein-energy malnutrition represents a real risk for patients on CAPD. In order to verify the nutritional status and the effectiveness of the dietetic surveillance in preventing this complication, dietary intake, anthropometric measurements and biochemical parameters were monitored in 46 patients (27 males, 19 females, mean age: 58.7 +/- 14.