Gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing treatment by hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment.

Methods: Patients undergoing HD or chronic ambulatory PD in the Department of Renal Medicine of our hospital were asked to complete a locally validated Rome II questionnaire. The same questionnaire was also administered to age- and gender-matched medical outpatients without renal failure, and community subjects.

Pre-existing renal failure doubles 30-day mortality after heart transplantation.

Background: Survival after cardiac transplantation has not changed over the last 10 years. Our objective was to identify risk factors for 30-day mortality after cardiac transplantation with particular reference to focusing on the impact of pre-existing renal dysfunction.

Methods: We analyzed the data of all 1,180 patients who received a first heart transplant in the 8 adult transplant centers in the United Kingdom between April 1996 and March 2002 using the UK Cardiothoracic Transplant Audit database.

Haemodialysis patients' views on their resuscitation status.

Background: Guidelines on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) recommend that decisions about resuscitation are part of every patient's care plan. We aimed to ascertain the initial views of a haemodialysis cohort in the UK regarding their CPR status in the event of an in-hospital cardiac arrest not related to dialysis.

Methods: During outpatient clinic follow-up between January and March 2001, 66 haemodialysis patients were interviewed by one of two interviewers.