Low performance of prognostic tools for predicting death before dialysis in older patients with advanced CKD.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a disease which is spreading worldwide, especially among older patients. Several prognostic scores have been developed to predict death in older CKD patients, but they have not been validated. We aimed to evaluate the existing risk scores for predicting death before dialysis start, identified via an in-depth review, in a cohort of elderly patients with advanced CKD. METHODS: We performed a review to identify scores predicting death, developed in and applicable to CKD patients. Each score was evaluated with an absolute risk calculation from the patients' baseline characteristics. We used a French prospective multicentre cohort of elderly patients (> 75 years) with advanced CKD [estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 20 mL/min/1.73 m2], recruited from nephrological centres, with a 5-year follow-up. The outcome considered was death before initiating dialysis. Discrimination [area under curve (AUC)], calibration and Brier score were calculated for each score at its time frame. RESULTS: Our review found 6 equations predicting death before dialysis in CKD patients. Four of these (GOLDFARB, BANSAL, GRAMS 2 and 4 years) were evaluated. The validation cohort (Parcours de Soins des Personnes Âgées Parcours de Soins des Personnes Âgées, PSPA) included 573 patients, with a median age of 82 years and a median eGFR of 13 mL/min/1.73 m2. At the end of follow-up, 287 (50%) patients had started dialysis and 238 (41%) patients had died before dialysis. The four equations evaluated showed average discrimination (AUC 0.61-0.70) and, concerning calibration, a global overestimation of the risk of death. DISCUSSION: The available scores predicting death before dialysis showed low performance among older patients with advanced CKD in a French multicentre cohort, indicating the need to upgrade them or develop new scores for this population.

Low performance of prognostic tools for predicting dialysis in elderly people with advanced CKD.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical decision-making about care plans can be difficult for very elderly people with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). Current guidelines propose the use of prognostic tools predicting end stage renal disease (ESRD) to assist in a patient-centered shared decision-making approach. Our objective was to evaluate the existing risk model scores predicting ESRD, from data collected for a French prospective multicenter cohort of mainly octogenarians with advanced CKD. METHODS: We performed a rapid review to identify the risk model scores predicting ESRD developed from CKD patient cohorts and evaluated them with data from a prospective multicenter French cohort of elderly (> 75 years) patients with advanced CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] < 20 mL/min/1.75m2), followed up for 5 years. We evaluated these scores (in absolute risk) for discrimination, calibration and the Brier score. For scores using the same time frame, we made a joint calibration curve and compared areas under the curve (AUCs). RESULTS: The PSPA cohort included 573 patients; their mean age was 83 years and their median eGFR was 13 mL/min/1.73 m2. At the end of follow-up, 414 had died and 287 had started renal replacement therapy (RRT). Our rapid review found 12 scores that predicted renal replacement therapy. Five were evaluated: the TANGRI 4-variable, DRAWZ, MARKS, GRAMS, and LANDRAY scores. No score performed well in the PSPA cohort: AUCs ranged from 0.57 to 0.65, and Briers scores from 0.18 to 0.25. CONCLUSIONS: The low predictiveness for ESRD of the scores tested in a cohort of octogenarian patients with advanced CKD underlines the need to develop new tools for this population.

Blood pressure control in patients with chronic kidney disease according to office and home blood pressures.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess blood pressure (BP) control in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) according to office and home BP and to assess the prevalence of normal BP, white-coat uncontrolled hypertension (WUCH), masked uncontrolled hypertension (MUCH) and elevated BP. METHODS: Patients with renal failure with or without proteinuria were included in this multicenter observational study. Office BP was first measured by the physician using a self-monitoring BP device (three automatic readings), then by the patient at home (morning and evening) over 3 consecutive days. WUCH was defined as a systolic BP (SBP)/diastolic BP (DBP) ≥140/90 mmHg in the clinic and SBP/DBP<135/85 mmHg at home. MUCH was defined as SBP/DBP <140/90 mmHg in the clinic and SBP/DBP ≥135/85 mmHg at home. RESULTS: Among the 243 included subjects, data of 225 patients were analyzed. Mean estimated glomerular filtration rate was 37.7 ± 15.7 mL/min/1.73 m and mean office SBP/DBP was 154 ± 19/83 ± 13 mmHg. Mean office SBP/DBP was significantly higher than home SBP/DBP (+9.0 ± 15.1/+7.0 ± 10.0 mmHg, P < 0.01). Normal BP (office and home BP), WUCH, MUCH and elevated BP (office and home BP) rates were 12.0, 14.2, 6.7 and 67.1%, respectively. The patients were taking, on average, 2.8 ± 1.5 antihypertensive drugs/day. CONCLUSION: BP control in patients with CKD was poor. Routine use of 'out-of-office' BP measurement, in addition to office BP by which we can identify patients with WUCH or MUCH, should be recommended based on the current findings.

Treatment plans and outcomes in elderly patients reaching advanced chronic kidney disease.

Background: Elderly patients with advanced chronic kidney disease require accurate outcome descriptions to make treatment decisions. Methods: The PSPA [Parcours de soins des personnes âgées (Treatment pathways for elderly patients)] prospective multicentre cohort study included 573 such patients with a median age of 82 [interquartile range (IQR) 79-86] years and a median estimated glomerular filtration rate of 14 (IQR 11-17) mL/min/1.73 m2 and studied their 5-year outcomes according to the dialysis component of their treatment plans. Results: Mean follow-up for the overall cohort was 34.5 ± 21 months and the 5-year survival rate was 27%. During follow-up, 288 (50%) patients started dialysis and 237 (42%) died before dialysis. At baseline, the four possible dialysis plans were dialysis when needed (38%), stable without mention of a dialysis plan (40%) and dialysis specifically excluded by the patient's (9%) or nephrologist's decision (12%). These baseline plans were associated with death and dialysis start. Follow-up plans were those decided during the study period: dialysis when needed for 47%, stable without mention of a dialysis plan for 20% and dialysis excluded at any time for 32%. For the subgroup of patients who started dialysis, those whose follow-up plan was dialysis started under better conditions than those who had stable or no dialysis follow-up plans before starting. However, survival afterwards did not differ significantly. Conclusions: These findings indicate that nephrology care should accommodate changes over time in older patients' treatment preferences and plans concerning dialysis. These changes are associated with whether, when and how these patients initiate dialysis but are not necessarily associated with post-dialysis survival.

Appraisal of the Knowledge of Hypertensive Patients Regarding Blood Pressure Control and Comorbidities: Results of a French Regional Survey.

INTRODUCTION: Knowledge about hypertension might influence blood pressure (BP) control and adherence to treatment. AIM: This study was conducted in collaboration with 11 pharmacies to assess the level of knowledge about hypertension and BP targets among the hypertensive population in the French region of Alsace. METHODS: Study participants (N = 380) were hypertensive adult patients visiting a pharmacy spontaneously from June to October, 2013, to get their regular prescribed medications including at least one antihypertensive agent. After filling a questionnaire, they were asked to record their BP themselves. RESULTS: The participants were 66 years of age, mostly women (51%), non smokers (80%), with an education level lower than A-level (70%). Of them, 35% were obese and 74% reported being hypertensive for more than 12 years. Almost half of them used a home BP monitor. When queried about BP targets, 78% of participants gave values under 140/90 mm Hg. Heart disease and stroke were reported to be associated with hypertension by 78 and 66% of participants, respectively. Participants were taking two pharmacological classes mostly administered as fixed-combination drugs and 39.5% were compliant. Optimal BP targets (135/85) were achieved by 43%. A better BP control was observed significantly (p = 0.02) more often when BP targets were known. Uncontrolled participants were more likely (p = 0.006) to be aware of being hypertensive and less satisfied with BP control (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the impact of patient knowledge and BP self-monitoring as well as the role of pharmacists to improve hypertension control.

Systolic blood pressure is depending on the arm position when home blood pressure is measured with a wrist or an arm validated monitor.

OBJECTIVES: To compare home blood pressure (BP) values obtained with two validated OMRON (wrist or arm) monitors used in the same individual sequentially, but with two different hand positions. METHODS: In 200 hypertensive individuals referred to hypertension specialists, a self-measurement of BP was performed sequentially with an OMRON M4-I (arm cuff, A/A, British Hypertention Society validation) and an OMRON RX-I (wrist cuff, B/B, BHS validation). Each patient recorded home BP during two periods of 4 days with three measures in the morning and three in the evening. Order for use of each monitor was randomized. For the first 100 patients, the hand was positioned on the opposite shoulder whereas for the next 100 patients, the hand was positioned on the opposite elbow. BP values were reported on a standardized document. RESULTS: In this population, aged 60+/-10 years, with 54% of men, BP values were 136+/-/80+/- mmHg with the wrist monitor (WM) when the hand is positioned on the opposite shoulder as compared with 144+/-16/81+/-9 mmHg obtained with the arm monitor taken as the gold standard. On the contrary, BP values were 142+/-/82+/- mmHg with the WM when the hand is positioned on the opposite elbow as compared with 144+/-16/81+/-9 mmHg obtained with the arm monitor. The lower value of systolic blood pressure observed with WM positioned on the shoulder is independent of age, initial BP level and order of use (multivariate analysis). CONCLUSION: When advising home BP monitoring with a WM, the instruction to be given to patients is to position the hand on the opposite elbow.

Interstitial expression of alpha-SMA: an early marker of chronic renal allograft dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: Renal myofibroblast infiltration has been shown to be strongly associated with renal function decline in several chronic renal diseases. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether early detection of myofibroblast infiltration using alpha-smooth-muscle actin (alpha-SMA) expression in time-zero biopsies predicts renal allograft dysfunction. METHODS: We studied renal tissue from 38 renal transplant patients from whom biopsies had been taken after vascular anastomosis during transplantation to ascertain whether myofibroblasts infiltration predicts renal graft survival. Immunohistochemistry was performed on time-zero biopsies to determine alpha-SMA expression, and this was compared to annual glomerular filtration rate (GFR) variation and other parameters including cold ischaemic time (CIT), donor and recipient age, number of acute rejections, and delayed graft function (DGF). GFR was measured by inulin clearance during of 3 years of follow-up after the transplantation. Progressors were defined as patients with an annual GFR decline >5 ml/min/year. RESULTS: We found a significant correlation between interstitial alpha-SMA expression in time-zero biopsies and GFR evolution during the post-transplantation course (r=0.60, P<0.001). Although progressors had greater interstitial alpha-SMA expression than non progressors (7.9+/-0.7 vs 4.3+/-0.4%), they showed only a tendency towards higher glomerular alpha-SMA expression. In addition, progressors had more interstitial fibrosis in time-zero biopsies than non-progressors. There was no relationship between alpha-SMA expression and CIT, donor and recipient ages, number of acute rejections, and occurrence of DGF. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that alpha-SMA evaluation in time-zero biopsies, especially the combination of alpha-SMA expression and interstitial fibrosis, can strongly predict chronic renal allograft dysfunctions.