Publications by authors named "Rainer P Woitas"

Background: To analyse the nature of medical or technical emergency issues of ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients calling a nurse-provided emergency PD support service of a reference centre that is provided all year in the after-hours.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed patients' chief complaint, urgency, resolution of and association to current PD treatment and modality directed to an on-call nurse-provided PD support service from 2015-2021 based on routinely collected health data. Calls were systematically categorized being technical/procedural-, medical-, material-related or type of correspondence.

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Background: Optimal initial tacrolimus dosing and early exposure of tacrolimus after renal transplantation is not well studied.

Methods: In this open-label, 6 months, multicenter, randomized controlled, non-inferiority study, we randomly assigned 432 renal allograft recipients to receive basiliximab induction, mycophenolate and steroids and either standard prolonged-release tacrolimus (trough levels: 7-9 ng/ml; Standard Care arm), or an initial 7-day fixed 5 mg/day dose of prolonged-release tacrolimus followed by lower tacrolimus predose levels (trough levels: 5-7 ng/ml; Slow & Low arm). The primary end point was the combined incidence rate of biopsy-proven acute rejections (BPAR; including borderline), graft failure, or death at 6 months with a non-inferiority margin of 12.

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Background: We previously reported excellent efficacy and improved safety aspects of rapid steroid withdrawal (RSWD) in the randomized controlled 1-year "Harmony" trial with 587 predominantly deceased-donor kidney transplant recipients randomized either to basiliximab or rabbit antithymocyte globulin induction therapy and compared with standard immunosuppressive therapy consisting of basiliximab, low tacrolimus once daily, mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids.

Methods: The 5-year post-trial follow-up (FU) data were obtained in an observational manner at a 3- and a 5-year visit only for those Harmony patients who consented to participate and covered clinical events that occurred from the second year onwards.

Results: Biopsy-proven acute rejection and death-censored graft loss rates remained low and independent of RSWD.

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Background: For the improvement of outcome after renal transplantation it is important to predict future risk of major adverse cardiac events as well as all-cause mortality. We aimed to determine the relationship of pre-transplant NT-proBNP with major adverse cardiac events and all-cause mortality after transplant in patients on the waiting-list with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction.

Patients And Methods: We included 176 patients with end-stage renal disease and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction who received a kidney transplant.

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Background: Beta Trace Protein (BTP) is a biomarker for residual kidney function which has been linked to cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in haemodialysis patients. Following renal transplantation, recipients remain at increased risk for cardiovascular events compared with the general population. We aimed to determine the relationship of pre-transplant BTP to major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in patients following kidney transplantation.

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Background: Residual renal function is closely linked to quality of life, morbidity and mortality in dialysis patients. Beta-trace protein (BTP), a low molecular weight protein, has been suggested as marker of residual renal function, in particular in patients on hemodialysis. We hypothesized that BTP also serves as a marker of residual renal function in pertioneal dialysis patients.

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Background: Beta-trace protein (BTP) is a low-molecular-weight glycoprotein, which may serve as an endogenous biomarker of kidney function and cardiovascular risk.

Methods: We examined cardiovascular and all-cause mortality according to BTP concentrations in 2962 individuals referred for coronary angiography from the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health study and in 907 patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus undergoing haemodialysis from the German Diabetes and Dialysis (4D) study.

Results: Haemodialysis patients had considerably higher median (interquartile range) BTP concentrations [6.

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Introduction: Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is a glycoprotein released by damaged renal tubular cells and mature neutrophils. It is elevated in kidney injury, but also in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and myocardial infarction. We investigated the prognostic value of NGAL for total and cardiovascular mortality in patients undergoing coronary angiography without history of renal insufficiency at inclusion into the study.

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Background: Standard practice for immunosuppressive therapy after renal transplantation is quadruple therapy using antibody induction, low-dose tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and corticosteroids. Long-term steroid intake significantly increases cardiovascular risk factors with negative effects on the outcome, especially post-transplantation diabetes associated with morbidity and mortality. In this trial, we examined the efficacy and safety parameters of rapid steroid withdrawal after induction therapy with either rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rabbit ATG) or basiliximab in immunologically low-risk patients during the first year after kidney transplantation.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Eurotransplant Kidney Allocation System considers patients with life-threatening conditions for high-urgency (HU) kidney transplants, but the effectiveness of this approach is debated due to limited data.
  • A study analyzed the outcomes of 898 HU kidney transplant recipients and found they were typically younger, waited less time for a transplant, but had worse patient survival rates and higher rates of retransplantation compared to non-HU recipients.
  • The findings suggest that current criteria for HU allocation should be reconsidered to prioritize patients on the non-HU waiting list who tend to have better long-term outcomes.
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Aims: Cystatin C is a well established marker of kidney function. There is evidence that cystatin C concentrations are also associated with mortality. The present analysis prospectively evaluated the associations of cystatin C with all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality in a well-characterized cohort of persons undergoing angiography, but without overt renal insufficiency.

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Background/aims: The noninvasive measurement of liver stiffness using transient elastography (TE) is increasingly being used alongside liver biopsy. However, several conditions may lead to higher liver stiffness values without reflecting more fibrosis. Such conditions (e.

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Objectives: Limitations of serum creatinine in patients with an impaired liver function are well known. The commonly used modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) equation has a low diagnostic performance to approximate kidney function in patients after liver transplantation (LT) and patients with liver cirrhosis (LC). The Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) formula has been shown to provide a more accurate estimation of kidney function in patients with chronic kidney disease, but studies in patients with liver disease are lacking.

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Background: Renal insufficiency is common after liver transplantation (LT). The use of creatinine (Crea) as a marker of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is limited in patients after LT. Beta-trace protein (BTP), an alternative marker of GFR, is independent of muscle mass and has not been evaluated in LT recipients.

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Background: Accurate calculation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is crucial in the management of patients after kidney transplantation (KTx). Recently, the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) formula was introduced to estimate GFR in chronic kidney disease patients. However, to date the diagnostic value of this equation remains to be determined in patients after KTx.

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Background: No previous randomized controlled studies have been reported examining de novo, once every 4 weeks (Q4W) administration of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. We report results from a randomized multinational study that compared continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (C.E.

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In hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection antiviral T cells express the CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5). Their recruitment to the liver is an important step in the immune response. A 32 base pair deletion in the CCR5 gene leads to reduced expression and total loss of CCR5 in CCR5-Delta32 heterozygous and homozygous subjects, respectively.

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In hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection antiviral T cells express the CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5). Their recruitment to the liver is an important step in the immune response. A 32 base pair deletion in the CCR5 gene leads to reduced expression and total loss of CCR5 in CCR5-n32 heterozygous and homozygous subjects, respectively.

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Background: Two modifications of the MDRD equation [the Mayo Clinic (MC) equation and Rule's refitted (RR) MDRD formula] were proposed to overcome disadvantages of the original MDRD formula to calculate glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Additionally, a correction factor for the original MDRD formula has been introduced to adapt this formula to creatinine values measured by the isotope-dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) method. Although precise determination of GFR is of central importance in renal transplant recipients, these equations have not been tested in these patients so far.

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