Hemodialysis international
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Review
The nature, consequences, and management of neurological disorders in chronic kidney disease.
Perhaps no other organ in the body is affected as often and in as many ways as the brain is in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Several factors contribute to the neurological disorders in CKD including accumulation of uremic toxins, metabolic and hemodynamic disorders, oxidative stress, inflammation, and impaired blood brain barrier among others. The neurological disorders in CKD involve both peripheral and central nervous system. ⋯ A stimulus-sensitive reflex myoclonus is believed to originate from the medullary structures. Sleep disorder and restless leg syndrome are common in CKD and have both central and peripheral origin. This article provides an overview of the available data on the nature, prevalence, pathophysiology, consequences and treatment of neurological complications of CKD.
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Home hemodialysis (HHD) is emerging as an important alternate renal replacement therapy. Although there are multiple clinical advantages with HHD, concerns surrounding increased risks of infection in this group of patients remain a major barrier to its implementation. ⋯ Use of central vein catheters and buttonhole cannulation in HHD are important modifiable risk factors for HHD associated infection. Several preventive measures are suggested in the literature, which will require further prospective validation.
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Although continuous modalities of renal replacement therapy offer an advantage to the patient with compromised cerebral perfusion and intracranial hypertension, they are generally limited to the intensive care unit setting. Many hemodialysis patients admitted with strokes and subdural hematoma are managed on general wards. ⋯ Such patients require more frequent but shorter dialysis sessions, using minimally bioincompatible small surface area dialyzers with lower blood flows, in combination with higher sodium and cooled dialysate. In patients at risk of intracranial hemorrhage and those with invasive intracranial monitoring, systemic anticoagulants should be avoided, choosing no anticoagulation protocols or regional anticoagulants.
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Review Case Reports
Hemolysis-induced acute kidney injury following cardiac surgery: a case report and review of the literature.
Acute kidney injury is a common complication following cardiac surgery. Even small increases in creatinine levels are associated with increases in morbidity and mortality. Numerous factors such as hemolysis can contribute to the development of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery. ⋯ The patient's renal function gradually recovered when hemolysis was improved. After follow-up for 3 months, his creatinine levels returned to normal. We discussed the pathogenesis of this hemolysis-related kidney dysfunction, the causes of hemolysis during cardiac surgery, and a new treatment option.
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Sudden cardiac death is the most common cause of death in dialysis patients and is usually preceded by sudden cardiac arrest due to ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. A variety of risk factors have been identified that predispose the sudden cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death in dialysis patients. ⋯ Secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death may be accomplished by similar pharmacotherapy and by the use of ICDs. Indications for ICD use in dialysis patients are similar to those for nondialysis patients; however, survival rates following ICD implantation in dialysis patients are substantially lower than in non-dialysis patients.