Variation in Dialysis Exposure Prior to Nonpreemptive Living Donor Kidney Transplantation in the United States and Its Association With Allograft Outcomes.

Background: The impact of dialysis exposure before nonpreemptive living donor kidney transplantation on allograft outcomes is uncertain.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting & Participants: Adult first-time recipients of kidney-only living donor transplants in the United States who were recorded within the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients for 2000 to 2016.

Sex Differences in Diagnoses, Treatment, and Outcomes for Emergency Department Patients With Chest Pain and Elevated Cardiac Troponin.

Objective: While sex differences in the treatment and outcomes of subjects with acute coronary syndromes are well documented, little is known about the impact of cardiac troponin (cTn) levels obtained in the emergency department (ED) on the observed sex differences. We sought to determine whether cTn levels by chest pain features modify sex differences in diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes in patients presenting with chest pain suggestive of ischemia.

Methods: All adults presenting to two hospitals in Vancouver, Canada, between May 2008 and March 2013 with ischemic chest pain and with cTn testing were included in the study.

Association of Kidney Transplantation with Survival in Patients with Long Dialysis Exposure.

Background And Objectives: Evidence that kidney transplantation is associated with better survival compared to dialysis stems from data in populations with short durations of dialysis exposure. Recent changes in allocation policy increase access to transplantation for patients with longer dialysis exposure. The objective of this study was to determine the association of transplantation with survival in patients with ≥10 years of dialysis treatment.

Use and Outcomes of Kidneys from Donation after Circulatory Death Donors in the United States.

Donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors are an important source of kidneys for transplantation, but DCD donor transplantation is less common in the United States than in other countries. In this study of national data obtained between 2008 and 2015, recovery of DCD kidneys varied substantially among the country's 58 donor service areas, and 25% of DCD kidneys were recovered in only four donor service areas. Overall, 20% of recovered DCD kidneys were discarded, varying from 3% to 33% among donor service areas.

Patterns of Biologics Utilization and Discontinuation Before and During Pregnancy in Women With Autoimmune Diseases: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Objective: To characterize patterns of biologics use and discontinuation before and during pregnancy in women with autoimmune diseases in British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: Women with ≥1 autoimmune diseases, as identified by International Classification of Diseases Ninth/Tenth Revision codes, who had pregnancies ending in deliveries between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2012, and had ≥1 prescription for a biologic drug 1 year before pregnancy or during pregnancy, were included. Secular trends, patterns of biologics use, and risk of biologics discontinuation before and during pregnancy were examined.

Is cardiovascular risk reduction therapy effective in South Asian, Chinese and other patients with diabetes? A population-based cohort study from Canada.

Objectives: Guidelines recommend ACE inhibitors (ACEi), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and diuretics in all patients with diabetes mellitus. However, the effectiveness of these agents in South Asian and Chinese populations is unknown. We sought to determine whether ACEi, ARB, CCB and diuretics are associated with reduced mortality in South Asian, Chinese and other patients with diabetes.

A Scoping Review for Strategies to Increase Living Kidney Donation.

Background And Objectives: The literature on strategies to increase the number of potential living kidney donors is extensive and has yet to be characterized. Scoping reviews are a novel methodology for systematically assessing a wide breadth of a given body of literature and may be done before conducting a more targeted systematic review.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We performed a scoping review and summarized the evidence for existing strategies to increase living kidney donation.

Engaging the Canadian public on reimbursement decision-making for drugs for rare diseases: a national online survey.

Background: Funding of drugs for rare diseases (DRDs) requires decisions that balance fairness for all individuals within the healthcare system with compassion for affected individuals. Our study objective was to conduct a national online survey to determine the Canadian public's perspective, including regional variations, associated with DRD decision-making.

Methods: The survey collected responses from 1631 Canadians.

Latent variable mixture models to test for differential item functioning: a population-based analysis.

Background: Comparisons of population health status using self-report measures such as the SF-36 rest on the assumption that the measured items have a common interpretation across sub-groups. However, self-report measures may be sensitive to differential item functioning (DIF), which occurs when sub-groups with the same underlying health status have a different probability of item response. This study tested for DIF on the SF-36 physical functioning (PF) and mental health (MH) sub-scales in population-based data using latent variable mixture models (LVMMs).

Reciprocity to Increase Participation of Compatible Living Donor and Recipient Pairs in Kidney Paired Donation.

Inclusion of compatible living donor and recipient pairs (CPs) in kidney paired donation (KPD) programs could increase living donor transplantation. We introduce the concept of a reciprocity-based strategy in which the recipient of a CP who participates in KPD receives priority for a repeat deceased donor transplant in the event their primary living donor KPD transplant fails, and then we review the practical and ethical considerations of this strategy. The strategy limits prioritization to CPs already committed to living donation, minimizing the risk of unduly influencing donor behavior.

Management of the obese kidney transplant candidate.

Obesity is an increasingly common condition that can exclude end stage renal disease patients from consideration of kidney transplantation. The optimal management of obese transplant candidates is uncertain, especially the use of pharmacologic therapies or bariatric surgery. We review the rationale to consider transplantation in obese patients, the impact of obesity on access to kidney transplantation, the evidence for obese patients to lose weight loss prior to kidney transplantation, peri-operative management considerations and specific weight loss strategies prior to transplantation.

Integrating APOL1 Gene Variants Into Renal Transplantation: Considerations Arising From the American Society of Transplantation Expert Conference.

Thirteen percent of individuals of African ancestry express two variant copies of the gene encoding apolipoprotein 1 (APOL1) that has been associated with an increased risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the general population. Limited studies suggest that the survival of transplanted kidneys from donors expressing two APOL1 risk alleles is inferior to that of kidneys from donors with zero or one risk allele. In living kidney donation, two case reports describe donors expressing two APOL1 risk alleles who developed ESRD.

Do Women Have a Choice? Care Providers' and Decision Makers' Perspectives on Barriers to Access of Health Services for Birth after a Previous Cesarean.

Background: Repeat cesarean delivery is the single largest contributor to the escalating cesarean rate worldwide. Approximately 80 percent of women with a past cesarean are candidates for vaginal birth after a cesarean (VBAC), but in Canada less than one-third plan VBAC. Emerging evidence suggests that these trends may be due in part to nonclinical factors, including care provider practice patterns and delays in access to surgical and anesthesia services.

Providing Coverage for the Unique Lifelong Health Care Needs of Living Kidney Donors Within the Framework of Financial Neutrality.

Organ donation should neither enrich donors nor impose financial burdens on them. We described the scope of health care required for all living kidney donors, reflecting contemporary understanding of long-term donor health outcomes; proposed an approach to identify donor health conditions that should be covered within the framework of financial neutrality; and proposed strategies to pay for this care. Despite the Affordable Care Act in the United States, donors continue to have inadequate coverage for important health conditions that are donation related or that may compromise postdonation kidney function.

The Evaluation of an Orientation Program of Self-Care Abilities for Patients on Hemodialysis.

Effective management of end stage renal disease for individuals undergoing hemodialysis (HD) requires the acquisition of self-care abilities, which have been shown to improve outcomes. Studies have indicated that educational interventions improve self-care abilities in patients with chronic kidney failure. A self-care coaching intervention was designed to bridge this gap.

Mortality and Cardiovascular Risk of Sulfonylureas in South Asian, Chinese and Other Canadians with Diabetes.

Objectives: Sulfonylureas have been inconsistently associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, there are no existing studies of long-term risk in South Asian and Chinese populations. Our objective was to determine whether sulfonylureas are associated with increased mortality or cardiovascular disease in a population cohort of South Asian, Chinese and other Canadian patients with incident diabetes.

Factors Associated With Participation in an Emergency Department-Based Take-Home Naloxone Program for At-Risk Opioid Users.

Study Objective: Although the World Health Organization recommends take-home naloxone to address the increasing global burden of opioid-related deaths, few emergency departments (EDs) offer a take-home naloxone program. We seek to determine the take-home naloxone acceptance rate among ED patients at high risk of opioid overdose and to examine factors associated with acceptance.

Methods: At a single urban ED, consecutive eligible patients at risk of opioid overdose were invited to complete a survey about opioid use, overdose experience, and take-home naloxone awareness, and then offered take-home naloxone.

What will the crowd fund? Preferences of prospective donors for drug development fundraising campaigns.

Biomedical researchers are increasingly turning to project-based online fundraising (i.e., crowdfunding) as a complementary source of research funding.

Preferences for 'New' Treatments Diminish in the Face of Ambiguity.

New products usually offer advantages over existing products, but in health care, most new drugs are 'me-too', comparable in effectiveness and side effects to existing drugs, but with a more ambiguous evidence base around adverse effects. Despite this, new treatments drive increased health care spending, suggesting a preference for 'newness' in this setting. We explore (1) whether preferences for treatments labeled 'new' exist and (2) persist once the ambiguity in the evidence base reflecting newness is described.

Differential Item Functioning in the SF-36 Physical Functioning and Mental Health Sub-Scales: A Population-Based Investigation in the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study.

Background: Self-reported health status measures, like the Short Form 36-item Health Survey (SF-36), can provide rich information about the overall health of a population and its components, such as physical, mental, and social health. However, differential item functioning (DIF), which arises when population sub-groups with the same underlying (i.e.

Population-based evaluation of the effectiveness of two regimens for emergency contraception.

Objective: To estimate and compare the effectiveness of the levonorgestrel and Yuzpe regimens for hormonal emergency contraception in routine clinical practice.

Methods: A retrospective population-based study included women who accessed emergency contraceptives for immediate use prescribed by community pharmacists in British Columbia, Canada, between December 2000 and December 2002. Linked administrative healthcare data were used to discern the timings of menses, unprotected intercourse, and any pregnancy-related health services.

Timing of Pregnancy After Kidney Transplantation and Risk of Allograft Failure.

The optimal timing of pregnancy after kidney transplantation remains uncertain. We determined the risk of allograft failure among women who became pregnant within the first 3 posttransplant years. Among 21 814 women aged 15-45 years who received a first kidney-only transplant between 1990 and 2010 captured in the United States Renal Data System, n = 729 pregnancies were identified using Medicare claims.