Bmc Nephrol
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Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a public health problem and there is a scarcity of type 2 CKD translational research that incorporates educational tools. Patient navigators have been shown to be effective at reducing disparities and improving outcomes in the oncology field. We describe the creation of a CKD Patient Navigator program designed to help coordinate care, address system-barriers, and educate/motivate patients. ⋯ The need for novel approaches like our CKD patient navigator program designed to impact CKD care is vital and should utilize team-based care and health information technology given the changing landscape of our health systems.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Acute kidney injury in an intensive care unit of a general hospital with emergency room specializing in trauma: an observational prospective study.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common among intensive care unit (ICU) patients and is associated with high mortality. Type of ICU, category of admission diagnosis, and socioeconomic characteristics of the region can impact AKI outcomes. We aimed to determine incidence, associated factors and mortality of AKI among trauma and non-trauma patients in a general ICU from a low-income area. ⋯ There was a high incidence of AKI in this study. AKI was strongly associated with mortality both among trauma and non-trauma patients. Trauma cases, especially brain injury due to traffic accidents involving motorized two-wheeled vehicles, should be seen as an important preventable cause of AKI.
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The role of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) as a diagnostic marker for acute kidney injury (AKI) in sepsis is still debated. We hypothesized that in sepsis, the performance of serum(s) and urinary(u) NGAL can be negatively impacted by severity of illness and inflammation, and that both uNGAL and sNGAL levels can be increased regardless of presence of AKI. ⋯ Serum and uNGAL levels are influenced by severity of illness and inflammation, and this was found to be independent of the presence of AKI. There is a strong correlation between sNGAL and uNGAL levels in patients with sepsis, indicating that increased levels of uNGAL can also be due to overspill from the systemic circulation, blurring the discriminative value of NGAL as a biomarker for AKI in patients with sepsis.
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A noninvasive system for determining left ventricular (LV) filling pressure may help to improve personalized fluid removal goals in hemodialysis patients. We previously showed that the change in photoplethysmography (PPG) pulse amplitude measured by finger PPG during a Valsalva maneuver correlates with invasively measured left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP). This key PPG change, the ratio of finger PPG pulse amplitude at end-Valsalva to baseline, is known as the Pulse Amplitude Ratio, PAR. The objective of this study was to determine how PAR changes after fluid removal in hemodialysis. ⋯ An index of left heart filling pressure obtained noninvasively using finger photoplethysmography during the Valsalva maneuver is sensitive enough to detect reductions in filling pressure after fluid removal with hemodialysis. Further studies are warranted to determine if this method can be used to guide fluid removal during hemodialysis.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Assessment of Worldwide Acute Kidney Injury, Renal Angina and Epidemiology in critically ill children (AWARE): study protocol for a prospective observational study.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with poor outcome in critically ill children. While data extracted from retrospective study of pediatric populations demonstrate a high incidence of AKI, the literature lacks focused and comprehensive multicenter studies describing AKI risk factors, epidemiology, and outcome. Additionally, very few pediatric studies have examined novel urinary biomarkers outside of the cardiopulmonary bypass population. ⋯ The Assessment of Worldwide Acute Kidney Injury, Renal Angina and Epidemiology (AWARE) study, creates the first prospective international pediatric all cause AKI data warehouse and biologic sample repository, providing a broad and invaluable resource for critical care nephrologists seeking to study risk factors, prediction, identification, and treatment options for a disease syndrome with high associated morbidity affecting a significant proportion of hospitalized children.