Publications by authors named "Veronica Lopez"

SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on transplant activity in our country. Mortality and the risk of complications associated with COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients (KT) were expected to be higher due to their immunosuppressed condition and the frequent associated comorbidities. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 we have rapidly improved our knowledge about the epidemiology, clinical features and management of COVID-19 post-transplant, resulting in a better prognosis for our patients.

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Background: The persistent shortage of optimal kidney donors and the progressive increase in patients on the waiting list has led to an expansion of organ acceptance criteria, such as controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) donors, as well as an expansion of criteria for accepting these organs (age, comorbidities, etc). However, there are some concerns and doubts about the survival outcomes achieved with these allografts.

Methods: A retrospective observational single-center study including all kidney transplants (KTs) from donors ≥70 years old using cDCD and donation after brain death (DBD) performed from January 2017 to December 2022.

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Background: Frailty is a persistent chronic inflammatory syndrome present in many patients with chronic kidney disease. After kidney transplant (KT), it has been associated with complications such as delayed graft function, hospital readmission, or poorer KT survival.

Purpose: To assess the impact of frailty on the results of KT.

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Article Synopsis
  • The SARS-CoV-2 virus had a big effect on kidney transplant patients, making them more likely to get really sick, especially early in the pandemic.
  • Doctors adjusted their medications to help manage COVID-19, which included reducing some immunosuppressive drugs that protect the kidney.
  • A study looked at how these changes affected kidney health and certain antibodies in patients six months after they got COVID-19, finding that most patients’ kidney function stayed fairly stable.
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We investigated the evolution of serum klotho (s-Kl) and FGF-23 during the first two years post-kidney transplantation (KT), considering the cold ischemia time (CIT), glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and graft subclinical inflammation (SCI). We undertook a prospective, cohort, multicenter study of consecutive patients between April 2018 and January 2021 (with follow-up at 24 months). Subgroups were analyzed according to the median CIT (<14 vs.

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Introduction: School dropout is an increasing worldwide phenomenon, marked by inequality and educational exclusion. In Chile, many students who have dropped out of regular schools attempt to reenter youth and adult education (YAE). However, some of them drop out again from YAE.

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Article Synopsis
  • Death with a functioning graft (DWFG) is a leading cause of complications in kidney transplantation (KT), with significant findings from a study conducted in Andalusia from 1984 to 2018.
  • * The research analyzed trends over different eras and found that while cardiovascular deaths decreased over time, cancer-related deaths significantly increased, particularly in late post-transplant periods.
  • * Notably, post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease was the leading cancer in early death, while lung cancer dominated the late death category, indicating a shift in the causes of DWFG among transplant patients.
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SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on transplant activity in our country. Mortality and the risk of complications associated with COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients (KT) were expected to be higher due to their immunosuppressed condition and the frequent associated comorbidities. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 we have rapidly improved our knowledge about the epidemiology, clinical features and management of COVID-19 post-transplant, resulting in a better prognosis for our patients.

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Background: Subclinical inflammation, including borderline lesions (BL), is very common (30-40%) after kidney transplantation (KT), even in low immunological risk patients, and can lead to interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy (IFTA) and worsening of renal function with graft loss. Few controlled studies have analyzed the therapeutic benefit of treating these BL on renal function and graft histology. Furthermore, these studies have only used bolus steroids, which may be insufficient to slow the progression of these lesions.

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Background: Messenger RNA vaccination against COVID-19 has been shown to produce an immune response with sufficient efficacy to prevent natural infection in immunocompetent recipients. However, the response in kidney transplant recipients is low. We aimed to evaluate the specific humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 after vaccination in a population of kidney transplant recipients and assess the main factors associated with a lack of response.

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Monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance is a clinical-pathological entity grouping renal disorders secondary to the secretion of a monoclonal immunoglobulin synthesized by a B-cell-derived clone and/or plasma cells in a patient with no diagnostic criteria for multiple myeloma. This term applies to a concept recently introduced owing to the need to differentiate this entity from monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, given the negative prognostic impact of its high morbidity and mortality resulting from both renal and systemic involvement, occasionally even progressing to advanced chronic kidney disease. The renal damage occurs via both direct pathogenic mechanisms, with the deposition of the monoclonal protein in different renal structures, as well as indirect mechanisms, acting as an autoantibody provoking dysregulation of the alternative complement pathway.

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Background: Sotrovimab is a neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) that seems to remain active against recent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants. The evidence on its use in kidney transplant (KT) recipients, however, is limited.

Methods: We performed a multicenter, retrospective cohort study of 82 KT patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection {coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]} treated with sotrovimab.

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Background: Insomnia and fatigue symptoms are common in breast cancer. Active cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy, appears to be particularly disruptive to sleep. Yet, sleep complaints often go unrecognised and under treated within routine cancer care.

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Vasomotor symptoms (VMS) are the most common symptoms among menopausal women; these include hot flashes and night sweats, and palpitations often occur along with hot flashes. Some studies in Mexico reported that around 50% of women presented with VMS mainly in the menopausal transition. It has been proven that VMS are not only triggered by an estrogen deficiency, but also by nutritional risk factors.

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One of the challenges of school climate policies has been to promote dialogical conflict resolution by reducing punitive practices and encouraging student participation. However, exclusionary punitive practices are still being used, and in Chile, they are considered acceptable forms of conflict resolution. In this study, we analyzed the association between students' reports of punitive and democratic school climate in a sample of 2459 eighth graders (mean age = 13.

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Introduction: SARS CoV2 infection has had a major impact on renal transplant patients with a high mortality in the first months of the pandemic. Intentional reduction of immunosuppressive therapy has been postulated as one of the cornerstone in the management of the infection in the absence of targeted antiviral treatment. This has been modified according to the patient`s clinical situation and its effect on renal function or anti-HLA antibodies in the medium term has not been evaluated.

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The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact schools and how education is conveyed to students. One of the aspects that has gained strength is supporting the wellbeing of educational communities. The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the construction of school wellbeing during the pandemic, based on the notion of collective and sustainable wellbeing.

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Background: The clinical effectiveness of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in kidney transplant (KT) recipients is lower than in the general population.

Methods: From April to October 2021, 481 KT recipients with COVID-19, included in the Spanish Society of Nephrology COVID-19 Registry, were analyzed. Data regarding vaccination status and vaccine type were collected, and outcomes of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated patients (n = 130) were compared with fully vaccinated patients (n = 351).

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The Atlantic blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) has rapidly invaded coastal environments in the western Mediterranean, but there is no consistent assessment of its impacts yet. We use interviews and long-term data series in the Ebro Delta (NE Spain) to: i) characterise the evolution of the blue crab invasion; and ii) identify its impacts. The blue crab was first recorded in 2012, but its expansion started around 2016, with an exponential increase in abundance between 2017 and 2018.

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Background: It is essential to understand the factors that affect the academic achievement of schoolchildren, both in general and in terms of the major subsectors of each grade. Although symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Negative Defiant Disorder (NDD-which are commonly recognized as externalizing problems in childhood and adolescence-have been associated with lower academic achievement in the international literature, few studies have addressed this problem in Latin America. This study aimed to analyze the possible predictive relationship of attention problems, hyperactivity, and defiant behavior on academic achievement.

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Multicenter, prospective, observational study to compare the relative bioavailability of once-daily tacrolimus formulations in de novo kidney transplant recipients. De novo kidney transplant recipients who started a tacrolimus-based regimen were included 14 days post-transplant and followed up for 6 months. Data from 218 participants were evaluated: 129 in the LCPT group (Envarsus) and 89 in the PR-Tac (Advagraf) group.

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We determined the association between CD14++CD16+ monocytes and subclinical infiltrates that do not reach the histological threshold for rejection (≥Banff IA). We studied low-immunological-risk kidney-transplant recipients in a clinical trial (NCT02284464; EudraCT 2012-003298-24) whose protocol biopsy in the third month showed no significant changes or borderline lesions (BL). Flow cytometry was used to analyze the percentage of CD14++CD16+ monocytes in peripheral blood (PB) and blood from a fine-needle-aspiration biopsy (FNAB).

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Most approved vaccines against COVID-19 have to be administered in a prime/boost regimen. We engineered a novel vaccine based on a chimeric human adenovirus 5 (hAdV5) vector. The vaccine (named CoroVaxG.

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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has especially affected kidney transplant (KT) recipients, who are more vulnerable than the general population because of their immunosuppressive status and added comorbidities. The purpose of this study was to determine risk factors related to infection and mortality from COVID-19 in KT recipients.

Methods: The study included 113 stable KT recipients who had polymerase chain reaction-confirmed COVID-19 infection between March 2020 and February 2021, from a total of 2150 KT recipients.

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Biodiversity conservation planning requires accurate, current information about species status and threats. Although introduced mammals are the greatest threat to seabirds globally, data on introduced species is lacking for many seabird breeding islands. To inform conservation planning, we used trail cameras to document the presence, relative abundance, and seasonal and diel attendance of introduced and native vertebrates within pink-footed shearwater (Ardenna creatopus) breeding colonies on Isla Mocha (five colonies, 2015-2020) and Isla Robinson Crusoe (Juan Fernández Archipelago), Chile (one colony, 2019-2020).

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