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Some of the latest research advancements in the field of nephrology presented at the virtual National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meeting included post-marketing safety data on patiromer (Veltassa), metformin for polycystic kidney disease, and kidney care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are a few more research highlights:
Disparities in Kidney Transplants
Significant racial/ethnic and sex disparities exist across end-stage renal disease (ESRD) networks when it comes to waiting for a kidney transplant, reported Reem Hamoda, MPH, of the University of Chicago, and colleagues.
Looking at over 1.3 million incident adult dialysis patients in the U.S. Renal Data System from 2005 to 2016, women were far less likely to get a spot on the renal transplant waitlist. Among these patients, 19.4% were waitlisted.
Artificial intelligence was predictive of care strategies for patients with diabetic kidney disease, a new study found.
Test results from the KidneyIntelX diagnostic tool were significantly tied to how a primary care physician tailored a patient s treatment strategy, reported Manasi Datar, PhD, of Boston Healthcare Associates in Massachusetts, and colleagues.
Specifically, having a patient with a high-risk KidneyIntelX result was associated with a 64% (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.29-2.08) higher odds of a primary care physician prescribing an SGLT-2 inhibitor with a diabetic kidney disease indication, such as canagliflozin (Invokana) which gained this expanded indication in September 2019.
The prognostic test identifying a patient as high risk was also tied to a 49% higher odds of the primary care physician increasing the patient s angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) dose (OR 1.49, 95% CI1.17-1.89) compared with patients who did not undergo this test.
Gout treatment with pegloticase was well tolerated in a dialysis-dependent population, researchers found in a small study.
In an analysis of 42 patients with uncontrolled gout currently undergoing routine outpatient dialysis, most received on-label pegloticase (Krystexxa) consisting of biweekly infusions, with a median of three infusions, reported Anthony Bleyer, MD, of Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and colleagues.
In total, nine patients (21%) received 12 or more pegloticase infusions, and the median interval between doses was 14 days (average of 19.5 days).
The findings were presented as a poster at the virtual National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meeting. To date, we have limited literature around the use of pegloticase in chronic kidney disease patients receiving dialysis, though we know that people with chronic kidney disease are more likely to develop gout, Bleyer explained to
Press release content from Globe Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
The Portability of Aquadex SmartFlow® from CHF Solutions Could Mean More Critically-Ill .
CHF Solutions, Inc.April 8, 2021 GMT
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Bringing transportable care directly to patients who are too critically-ill to be moved could be the difference between life and death. New evidence demonstrates that ultrafiltration therapy (aquapheresis) using the Aquadex SmartFlow® system by CHF Solutions may be lifesaving for patients with profound and catastrophic multi-organ failure due to fluid overload, in part due to the device’s flexibility and portability. Aquadex™ gently removes excess fluid from the blood to alleviate burden on key organs such as the kidneys and heart.
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The COVID-19 pandemic led to a stark decline in kidney care that has yet to rebound, a new retrospective study suggested.
Overall healthcare utilization dropped by 43% during the pandemic among Medicare beneficiaries with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) compared with the year prior, reported Clarissa Diamantidis, MD, MHS, of Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues.
Based on healthcare utilization prior to the pandemic specifically January 2019 through February 2020 these CKD patients were expected to have roughly 2.74 million in-person healthcare visits during the period in which the pandemic hit. But from March through June 2020, this group only actually had about 1.56 million in-person healthcare visits.