Practice Patterns and Outcomes of Online Hemodiafiltration: A Real-World Evidence Study in a Russian Dialysis Network.

Background: Evidence suggests that online hemodiafiltration (OL-HDF) is associated with improved survival. Whether the dose-response relationship between convective volume and mortality may be confounded by selection bias or descends from practice patterns is not clear. We sought to evaluate the role of patients' characteristics and practice patterns on OL-HDF dose and mortality in a large private dialysis network in the Republic of Russia.

[Association of polyunsaturated fatty acids treatment with coronary mortality. A meta-analysis].

Aim: A meta-analysis was undertaken to sum up data on long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids treatment and coronary deaths.

Methods: Only studies with no less than 500 participants and length of follow-up no less than one year were included. Total number of studies was 13 with 127455 participants.

[Use of Highly Concentrated Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids for Prevention of Complications After Myocardial Infarction. Cost-Utility Analysis].

Use of highly concentrated ethyl esters of polyunsaturated fatty acids after myocardial infarction (MI) and in patients with heart failure was associated with lower mortality. The goal of this analysis was to perform cost-utility analysis of the use of highly concentrated ethyl esters of polyunsaturated fatty acids after MI (with help of a Markov model) and to find whether its use in some group of patients led to decrease in budget costs. As a result, we have shown that use of highly concentrated ethyl esters of polyunsaturated fatty acids after MI leads to increase in quality-adjusted life expectancy on 0.

[Economic assessment of drugs for rare diseases: Must it be done, if yes, which are its features?].

The orphan drug laws enacted firstly in the USA and then in some other countries have given rise to a specific market of drugs for rare diseases and to a drastic increase in the number of proposed drugs. At the same time, the prices for innovative drugs are frequently high, have resulted in debates about their cost effectiveness and the drugs for rare diseases being frequently difficult to be tested for their efficacy due to disease rarity. The article discusses the designs of clinical trials that could enhance their effectiveness, gives examples of standard-design trials, and notes that effectiveness evaluations can be obtained for most diseases, but with a small sample, they will not be very precise, which makes cost-effectiveness analysis difficult.

[Efficacy of nondrug correction of hypertension in general medical practice].

Effectiveness of nondrug correction of elevated blood pressure was assessed in a group of hypertensives selected from participants of a study of prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors conducted in one of Saint Petersburg districts. Patients were divided into 3 subgroups in which the following interventions were used: diet with decreased sodium content, aerobic physical exercise, or combination of these methods. Blood pressure lowering achieved with these methods (-11 mm Hg systolic and -6.