Plasmatic osteopontin and vascular access dysfunction in hemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional, case-control study (The OSMOSIS Study).

Background And Aims: Despite close follow-up of patients with native arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs), up to 10% experience thrombosis each year. The OSMOSIS Study (Osteopontin as a Marker of Stenosis) tested the hypothesis that the systemic osteopontin level, a pro-inflammatory mediator related to vascular remodelling and intimal hyperplasia, increases in AVF stenosis, and may be used in clinical surveillance.

Methods: Our cross-sectional study compared the level of plasmatic osteopontin (pOPN) between patients with a well-functioning AVF (control group) and patients who required revision of their AVF due to stenosis (stenosis group).

Alkaline Phosphatases Account for Low Plasma Levels of Inorganic Pyrophosphate in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Introduction: Patients on dialysis and kidney transplant recipients (KTR) present the syndrome of mineral and bone disorders (MBD), which share common traits with monogenic calcifying diseases related to disturbances of the purinergic system. Low plasma levels of inorganic pyrophosphate (PP) and ectopic vascular calcifications belong to these two conditions. This suggests that the purinergic system may be altered in chronic kidney disease with MBD.

Vitamin E-Coated and Heparin-Coated Dialyzer Membranes for Heparin-Free Hemodialysis: A Multicenter, Randomized, Crossover Trial.

Background: Hemodialysis requires effective anticoagulation to avoid blood circuit clotting. In patients at high risk for bleeding, several alternative methods have been developed.

Study Design: Multicenter, prospective, randomized, crossover study evaluating the noninferiority of vitamin E-coated compared with heparin-coated dialyzers in a 4-hour heparin-free hemodialysis strategy.

Patients' preferences regarding choice of end-stage renal disease treatment options.

Background: Dialysis registries have reported a low take-up of home treatment. The aim of our study was to report patients' preferred treatment options for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) after information delivery, patients' characteristics by treatment preference, and the reasons for differences between treatment preference and the treatment delivered.

Methods: A prospective cohort study on patients seen in our nephrology department between January 2009 and June 2011 included all patients with chronic kidney disease (GFR <20 ml/min/1.

[Reconstruction by revascularization of a hand subtotally amputated at the middle section].

Authors describe the successful revascularization operation of the subtotally amputated hand of a 21 years old man. The patient was controlled after 2 years. He was satisfied with the function of the restored hand and worked in his original job.