High Levels of Soluble C5b-9 Complex in Dialysis Fluid May Predict Poor Prognosis in Peritonitis in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients.

Background: We searched for indicators to predict the prognosis of infectious peritonitis by measuring levels of complement proteins and activation products in peritoneal dialysis (PD) fluid (PDF) of patients at early stages of peritonitis. We retrospectively analyzed the relationship between the levels of sC5b-9, C3 and C4 in PDF and the subsequent clinical prognosis.

Methods: We measured levels of sC5b-9, C3 and C4 in PDF on days 1, 2 and 5 post-onset of peritonitis in 104 episodes of infectious peritonitis in PD patients from 2008 and retrospectively compared levels with clinical outcomes.

Expression of membrane complement regulators, CD46, CD55 and CD59, in mesothelial cells of patients on peritoneal dialysis therapy.

We investigated the expression of membrane complement regulators (CRegs), CD46, CD55 and CD59 in human mesothelial cells, and correlated with clinical background and level of complement (C) activation products in peritoneal dialysis (PD) fluids (PDF) to clarify influence of the C activation system in PD patients. Expression of CRegs was assessed on primary cultures of mesothelial cells (HPMC) harvested from PD fluid of 31 PD patients. Because expression of CD55 but not CD46 and CD59 in mesothelial cells was significantly correlated to value of dialysate-to-plasma creatinine concentration ratio (D/P Cre) (p<0.

Perforative peritonitis caused by appendicitis in a patient on peritoneal dialysis.

A 46-year-old man on peritoneal dialysis (PD) was hospitalized due to suspicious PD-related peritonitis. Because the patient's abdominal pain was unimproved by conventional antibiotics and multiple bacteria were identified in a smear-sample of PD fluid, endogenous peritonitis was suspected. Perforated appendicitis was finally diagnosed under exploratory laparotomy.

Popliteal angle in infants with west syndrome.

The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between neurologic findings and outcome of patients with West syndrome, focusing on the popliteal angle. The complete neurologic examination, including an assessment of the popliteal angle and muscle tone, was performed on 45 patients with West syndrome. A tight popliteal angle was determined when it was 120 degrees or less.