Identifying survival protective factors for chronic dialysis patients with surgically confirmed acute mesenteric ischemia

BACKGROUND Mesenteric ischemia is significantly more common in end-stage kidney disease patients undergoing chronic dialysis than in the general population and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. However, reports on prognostic factors in this population are limited.AIM To elucidate the in-hospital outcomes of acute mesenteric ischemia in chronic dialysis patients and to analyze protective factors for survival.METHODS The case data of 426 chronic dialysis patients who were hospitalized in a tertiary medical center for acute mesenteric ischemia over a 14-year period were retrospectively reviewed. Of these cases, 103 were surgically confirmed, and the patients were enrolled in this study. A Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the protective factors for survival.RESULTS The in-hospital mortality rate among the 103 enrolled patients was 46.6%.Univariate analysis was performed to compare factors in survivors and nonsurvivors, with better in-hospital outcomes associated with a surgery delay(defined as the time from onset of signs and symptoms to operation) < 4.5 d, no shock, a higher potassium level on day 1 of hospitalization, no resection of the colon, and a total bowel resection length < 110 cm. After 1 wk of hospitalization, patients with lower white blood cell count and neutrophil counts, higher lymphocyte counts, and lower C-reactive protein levels had better in-hospital outcomes. Following multivariate adjustment, a higher potassium level on day 1 of hospitalization(HR 1.71, 95%CI 1.19 to 2.46;P = 0.004), a lower neutrophil count(HR 0.91, 95%CI 0.84 to 0.99;P = 0.037) at 1 wk after admission, resection not involving the colon(HR 2.70, 95%CI 1.05 to 7.14;P = 0.039), and a total bowel resection length < 110 cm(HR 4.55,95%CI 1.43 to 14.29;P = 0.010) were significantly associated with survival.CONCLUSION A surgery delay < 4.5 d, no shock, no resection of the colon, and a total bowel resection length <110 cm predicted better outcomes in chronic dialysis patients with acute mesenteric ischemia.

Current pattern of Chinese dialysis units： a cohort study in a representative sample of units

Background Understanding the characteristics of Chinese dialysis patients and the current practice trends is the first step to evaluate the association between practice pattern and outcome in these populations. In the present study, we evaluated the status of medical treatment and characteristic features of chronic dialysis patients in China. Methods Through a clustering sampling, we selected 9 centers from the largest dialysis facilities in 6 cities around China. All adult undergoing dialysis in the selected units were screened. A total of 2388 （1775 on hemodialysis （HD） and 613 on peritoneal dialysis （PD）） patients were finally enrolled. All data were collected at enrollment on the bases of review of medical records. Results In this cohort, 1313 （55.0%） were male. The mean age was 54 years old. The median time for dialysis was 26 months （12-51 months）. Seventy-five percent of patients were on HD and 25.0% on PD. Among PD patients, about 21% patients did not receive dialysis adequacy. For HD patients, about 14.0% of them did not achieve dialysis adequacy when the target of kt/V was set as 1.2. Only 44.7% of patients achieved blood pressure target of 140/90 mmHg. About 60% of patients did not reach the hemoglobin target of 110 g/L even though 85.0% of them were treated with erythropoietin. In addition, 48.5% of the patients had uncontrolled mineral metabolism revealed by the high calcium-phosphate product. Compared with HD patients, higher level of serum glucose, triglyceride, and total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol were more common in PD patients. Conclusions This observational study suggests that many Chinese dialysis patients did not achieve the therapeutic target, particularly in blood pressure control, anemia correction, and mineral balance. PD patients were more likely to suffer metabolic disturbance.

Muscle mass loss and intermuscular lipid accumulation were associated with insulin resistance in patients receiving hemodialysis

Background An accelerated muscle wasting was the pivotal factor for protein-energy wasting in end stage renal disease. However, very few researches have examined the skeletal muscle quantity and quality in clinical patients. This study investigated the muscle morphologic changes by magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） and analyzed the related factors in hemodialysis patients. Methods Fifty-eight patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis （HD） were investigated and 28 healthy adults with gender and age matched were used as controls （Control）. Anthropometry, cytokine factors, and laboratory data were measured. The muscle and intermuscular adipose tissues （IMAT） were analyzed via a Thigh MRI. The bicep samples were observed after HE staining. Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance （HOMA-IR） was measured and their association with muscle wasting was analyzed. Results HD patients tended to have a lower protein diet, anthropometry data, and serum albumin, but the C reactive protein and interleukin-6 increased significantly. The MRI showed that HD patients had less muscle mass and a lower muscle/total ratio, but the fat/muscle and IMAT was higher when compared to the Control group. The muscle fiber showed atrophy and fat accumulation in the biceps samples come from the HD patients. Moreover, we found that the HD patients presented with a high level of plasma fasting insulin and increased HOMA-IR which negatively correlated with the muscle/ total ratio, but positively with the fat/muscle ratio. Conclusions Muscle wasting presented early before an obvious malnutrition condition emerged in HD patients. The main morphological change was muscle atrophy along with intermuscular lipid accumulation. Insulin resistance was associated with muscle wasting in dialysis patients.