["L'étudiant expert", a podcast for student nurses]. / "L'étudiant expert", un podcast à destination des étudiants infirmiers.

For the past three years, the Institut de formation interhospitalier Théodore-Simon (Ifits) has been embarking on a magnificent adventure to meet its student nurses, collecting their words and testimonials in a series of podcasts, the main aim of which is to shed as much light as possible on the reality of nursing studies. This article retraces the genesis of the project and demonstrates the added value of this tool for future professionals and trainers alike.

Efficacy and Safety of Eculizumab in Pediatric Patients Affected by Shiga Toxin-Related Hemolytic and Uremic Syndrome: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Shiga toxin-related hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS) is a serious condition, characterized by multiorgan thrombotic microangiopathy, mainly affecting children. Renal involvement is severe, with approximately half of patients requiring dialysis. So far, no specific treatment has been proven efficient in STEC-HUS. The use of eculizumab, a monoclonal antibody inhibiting terminal complement complex, has demonstrated remarkable success in atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, but its use in uncontrolled studies to treat STEC-HUS has yielded inconsistent results. In this Phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 100 pediatric patients with STEC-HUS, the findings did not show efficacy of eculizumab during the acute phase of the disease. However, the results indicated a reduction of renal sequelae in eculizumab-treated patients at 1-year follow-up. Larger prospective studies would be needed to further explore eculizumab as a potential treatment. BACKGROUND: Shiga toxin-related hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS) in children is a severe condition, resulting in approximately 50% of patients requiring RRT. Furthermore, at least 30% of survivors experience kidney sequelae. Recently, activation of the complement alternative pathway has been postulated as a factor in STEC-HUS pathophysiology, leading to compassionate use of eculizumab, a monoclonal antibody inhibiting the terminal complement complex, in affected patients. Given the lack of therapy for STEC-HUS, a controlled study of eculizumab efficacy in treating this condition is a priority. METHODS: We conducted a Phase 3 randomized trial of eculizumab in children with STEC-HUS. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either eculizumab or placebo during 4 weeks. Follow-up lasted for 1 year. The primary end point was RRT duration <48 hours after randomization. Secondary endpoints included hematologic and extrarenal involvement. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were similar among the 100 patients who underwent randomization. The rate of RRT <48 hours did not differ significantly between the two groups (48% in the placebo versus 38% in the eculizumab group; P = 0.31) or in the course of ARF. The two groups also exhibited similar hematologic evolution and extrarenal manifestations of STEC-HUS. The proportion of patients experiencing renal sequelae at 1 year was lower in the eculizumab group than in the placebo group (43.48% and 64.44%, respectively, P = 0.04). No safety concern was reported. CONCLUSIONS: In pediatric patients with STEC-HUS, eculizumab treatment does not appear to be associated with improved renal outcome during acute phase of the disease but may reduce long-term kidney sequelae. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATIONS: EUDRACT (2014-001169-28) ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02205541 ).

Evaluation of a Portable fMRI Compatible Robotic Wrist Interface.

This paper presents evaluation of a portable fMRI compatible haptic interface to study the brain correlates of sensorimotor control during wrist motion. The interface is actuated by a shielded DC motor located more than 2 m away from the 3T MR scanner's bore. The achievable wrist torque of the interface is up to 2 Nm, and the interface provides sufficient bandwidth for human motor control experiments. Ergonomic and fMRI compatibility testing with a 3T MR scanner showed that the interface is MR safe, compatible with a strong static magnetic field and radio frequency emission, and its operation does not affect the quality of the acquired images. Clinical Relevance- We present and evaluate an fMRI compatible robotic interface to study human wrist joint motor function.

Plasma cystatin C is a marker of renal glomerular injury in children treated with cisplatin or ifosfamide.

BACKGROUND: Plasma cystatin C is a potential marker of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and urinary cystatin C has been proposed as a marker of tubular dysfunction. PROCEDURE: A prospective study (NCT02822404) was conducted to assess the benefit of considering cystatin C plasma and urinary levels to better evaluate cisplatin and/or ifosfamide renal toxicity in children with cancer. Plasma 51 Cr-EDTA clearance as a marker of GFR and urinary markers of tubular toxicity were monitored in 40 children treated by cisplatin and/or ifosfamide. Several equations previously proposed to estimate GFR, with or without inclusion of plasma cystatin C level, were compared. A population pharmacokinetic approach was also used to analyze plasma 51 Cr-EDTA data, and evaluate the relationship between patient covariates (including plasma cystatin C level) and GFR during the course of chemotherapy treatment. RESULTS: Equations including plasma cystatin C described GFR changes during chemotherapy better than those without this variable. An equation based on plasma cystatin C, serum creatinine, and body weight enabled us to accurately describe the evolution of GFR during chemotherapy. The urinary cystatin C/creatinine ratio was compared between children with or without tubular toxicity, according to a standard assessment of tubular dysfunction. However, although the urinary cystatin C/creatinine ratio was increased in children with tubular toxicity, this marker does not provide additional information to the well-known markers of tubulopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Monitoring of plasma cystatin C may be substituted to radionucleide glomerular exploration in children treated by cisplatin and/or ifosfamide.

CD49d/CD29-integrin controls the accumulation of plasmacytoid dendritic cells into the CNS during neuroinflammation.

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are found in the CNS during neuroinflammation and have been reported to exert regulatory functions in multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). However, the mechanisms of entry of pDCs into the CNS as well as their phenotype and innate functional properties, once recruited into the CNS, have not been thoroughly examined. Herein, we show that pDCs rapidly accumulate into the brain and spinal cord during the acute phase of EAE, and maintain the expression of numerous phenotypic markers typical of peripheral pDCs. Functionally, CNS-pDCs constitutively expressed IRF7 and were able to rapidly produce type I IFNs and IL-12p40 upon ex vivo TLR-9 stimulation. Using adoptive transfer experiments, we provide evidence that CNS-pDC are recruited from the blood and accumulate into the CNS during the acute phase of EAE. Accumulation of pDCs into the CNS was strongly inhibited in the absence of CD29, but not CD18, suggesting a major role for ß1 but not ß2 integrins. Indeed, blocking the CD49d α4-integrins during acute EAE drastically diminished CNS-pDC numbers. Together, our results demonstrate that circulating pDCs are actively recruited into the CNS during acute EAE through a mechanism largely dependent on CD49d/CD29-integrins.

Quality of life in adolescents with chronic kidney disease who initiate haemodialysis treatment.

BACKGROUND: To describe the quality of life of adolescents initiating haemodialysis, to determine the factors associated with quality of life, and to assess coping strategies and their impact on quality of life. METHODS: All adolescents initiating haemodialysis between September 2013 and July 2015 in French paediatric haemodialysis centres were included. Quality of life data were collected using the "Vécu et Santé Perçue de l'Adolescent et l'Enfant" questionnaire, and coping data were collected using the Kidcope questionnaire. Adolescent's quality of life was compared with age- and sex-matched French control. RESULTS: Thirty-two adolescents were included. Their mean age was 13.9 ± 2.0 years. The quality of life score was lowest in leisure activities and highest in relationships with medical staff. Compared with the French control, index, energy-vitality, relationships with friends, leisure activities and physical well-being scores were significantly lower in haemodialysis population. In multivariate analyses, active coping was positively associated with quality of life and especially with energy-vitality, relationships with parents and teachers, and school performance. In contrast, avoidant and negative coping were negatively associated with energy-vitality, psychological well-being and body image for avoidant coping, and body image and relationships with medical staff for negative coping. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of life of haemodialysis adolescents, and mainly the dimensions of leisure activities, physical well-being, relationships with friends and energy-vitality, were significantly altered compared to that of the French population. The impact of coping strategies on quality of life seems to be important. Given the importance of quality of life and coping strategies in adolescents with chronic disease, health care professionals should integrate these aspects into care management.

Treatment and outcome of congenital nephrotic syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Recommendations for management of Finnish-type congenital nephrotic syndrome (CNS) followed by many teams include daily albumin infusions, early bilateral nephrectomy, dialysis and transplantation. We aimed to assess the treatment and outcome of patients with CNS in France. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide retrospective study on 55 consecutive children born between 2000 and 2014 treated for non-infectious CNS. RESULTS: The estimated cumulative incidence of CNS was 0.5/100 000 live births. The underlying defect was biallelic mutations in NPHS1 (36/55, 65%), NPHS2 (5/55, 7%), PLCE1 (1/55, 2%), heterozygous mutation in WT1 (4/55, 7%) and not identified in nine children (16%). Fifty-three patients (96%) received daily albumin infusions from diagnosis (median age 14 days), which were spaced and withdrawn in 10 patients. Twenty children (35%) were managed as outpatients. Thirty-nine patients reached end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) at a median age of 11 months. The overall renal survival was 64% and 45% at 1 and 2 years of age, respectively. Thirteen children died during the study period including four at diagnosis, two of nosocomial catheter-related septic shock, six on dialysis and one after transplantation. The remaining 13 patients were alive with normal renal function at last follow-up [median 32 months (range 9-52)]. Renal and patient survivals were longer in patients with NPHS1 mutations than in other patients. The invasive infection rate was 2.41/patient/year. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows: (i) a survival free from ESKD in two-thirds of patients at 1 year and in one-half at 2 years and (ii) a significant reduction or even a discontinuation of albumin infusions allowing ambulatory care in a subset of patients. These results highlight the need for new therapeutic guidelines for CNS patients.

CMOS platform for atomic-scale device fabrication.

Controlled atomic scale fabrication based on scanning probe patterning or surface assembly typically involves a complex process flow, stringent requirements for an ultra-high vacuum environment, long fabrication times and, consequently, limited throughput and device yield. We demonstrate a device platform that overcomes these limitations by integrating scanning-probe based dopant device fabrication with a CMOS-compatible process flow. Silicon on insulator substrates are used featuring a reconstructed Si(001):H surface that is protected by a capping chip and has pre-implanted contacts ready for scanning tunneling microscope (STM) patterning. Processing in ultra-high vacuum is thereby reduced to a few critical steps. Subsequent reintegration of the samples into the CMOS process flow opens the door to successful application of STM fabricated dopant devices in more complex device architectures. Full functionality of this approach is demonstrated with magnetotransport measurements on degenerately doped STM patterned Si:P nanowires up to room temperature.

Patient and transplant outcome in infants starting renal replacement therapy before 2 years of age.

Background: Despite major technical improvements in the care of children requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) before 2 years of age, the management of those patients remains challenging and transplantation is generally delayed until the child weighs 10 kg or is 2 years old. In this national cohort study, we studied patient and graft survival in children starting RRT before 2 years of age to help clinicians and parents when deciding on RRT initiation and transplantation management. Methods: All children starting RRT before 24 months of age between 1992 and 2012 in France were included through the national Renal Epidemiology and Information Network (REIN) registry. The primary endpoints were patient survival on dialysis and 10-year graft survival. Results: A total of 224 patients were included {62% boys, median age 10.5 months [interquartile range (IQR) 5.8-15.6]}. The 10-year survival rate was 84% (IQR 77-89). Suffering from extrarenal comorbidities was the only factor significantly associated with both an increased risk of death on dialysis [hazard ratio 5.9 (95% confidence interval 1.8-19.3)] and a decreased probability of being transplanted. During follow-up, 174 renal transplantations were performed in 171 patients [median age at first transplantation 30.2 (IQR 21.8-40.7) months]. The 10-year graft survival was 74% (IQR 67-81). Factors associated with graft loss in multivariate analysis were the time spent on dialysis before transplantation, donor/recipient height ratio with an increased risk for both small and tall donors and presenting two human leucocyte antigen-antigen D-related mismatches. Conclusions: This study confirms the good outcome of children starting RRT before 2 years of age. The main question remains when and how to transplant those children. Our study provides data on the optimal morphological and immunological matching in order to help clinicians in their decisions.

Eculizumab treatment in severe pediatric STEC-HUS: a multicenter retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Hemolytic uremic syndrome related to Shiga-toxin-secreting Escherichia coli infection (STEC-HUS) remains a common cause of acute kidney injury in young children. No specific treatment has been validated for this severe disease. Recently, experimental studies highlight the potential role of complement in STEC-HUS pathophysiology. Eculizumab (EC), a monoclonal antibody against terminal complement complex, has been used in severe STEC-HUS patients, mostly during the 2011 German outbreak, with conflicting results. METHODS: On behalf of the French Society of Pediatric Nephrology, we retrospectively studied 33 children from 15 centers treated with EC for severe STEC-HUS. Indication for EC was neurologic involvement in 20 patients, cardiac and neurologic involvement in 8, cardiac involvement in 2, and digestive involvement in 3. Based on medical status at last follow-up, patients were divided into two groups: favorable (n = 15) and unfavorable outcomes (n = 18). RESULTS: Among patients with favorable outcome, 11/14 patients (79%) displayed persistent blockade of complement activity before each EC reinjection. Conversely, in patients with unfavorable outcome, only 9/15 (53%) had persistent blockade (p = n.s.). Among 28 patients presenting neurological symptoms, 19 had favorable neurological outcome including 17 with prompt recovery following first EC injection. Only two adverse effects potentially related to EC treatment were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these results may support EC use in severe STEC-HUS patients, especially those presenting severe neurological symptoms. The study, however, is limited by absence of a control group and use of multiple therapeutic interventions in treatment groups. Thus, prospective, controlled trials should be undertaken.

Treatment by immunoadsorption for recurrent focal segmental glomerulosclerosis after paediatric kidney transplantation: a multicentre French cohort.

Background: Primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) frequently recurs after kidney transplantation (KTx) in children. This can lead to delayed graft loss. As the management of children with recurrent FSGS is not well established, apheresis strategies could be a cornerstone to control the disease. Immunoadsorption (IA) is a recent apheresis therapy. There have been few studies examining IA in this setting. We report the results of IA for management of recurrent FSGS after KTx in children in France. Methods: We included all children treated with IA for early FSGS recurrence after KTx between January 2011 and June 2014 in France. We excluded genetic forms of FSGS. Patients' characteristics and technical data on IA were retrospectively collected. Recurrence was defined as nephrotic proteinuria during the post-transplantation period. Partial and complete remissions were defined when urine protein:creatinine ratios were less than 0.2 and 0.05 g/mmol, respectively. Results: Twelve patients, from six paediatric KTx units, presenting with FSGS recurrence between 0 and 21 days after KTx were treated with IA. Ten of 12 children were responders: 2 achieved partial remission and 8 complete remission. The decrease of proteinuria rapidly occurred within the first 10 sessions after initiating IA. After 3 months of IA, two patients maintained remission without IA and eight became IA dependent. No severe side effects were reported. Conclusions: Our study reports on the efficacy of IA in the recurrence of FSGS after KTx in children. Further prospective controlled studies are required to confirm these results and to optimize the management of FSGS recurrence after paediatric KTx.

The association of donor and recipient age with graft survival in paediatric renal transplant recipients in a European Society for Paediatric Nephrology/European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplantation Association Registry study.

BACKGROUND: The impact of donor age in paediatric kidney transplantation is unclear. We therefore examined the association of donor-recipient age combinations with graft survival in children. METHODS: Data for 4686 first kidney transplantations performed in 13 countries in 1990-2013 were extracted from the ESPN/ERA-EDTA Registry. The effect of donor and recipient age combinations on 5-year graft-failure risk, stratified by donor source, was estimated using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox regression, while adjusting for sex, primary renal diseases with a high risk of recurrence, pre-emptive transplantation, year of transplantation and country. RESULTS: The risk of graft failure in older living donors (50-75 years old) was similar to that of younger living donors {adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.74 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.38-1.47]}. Deceased donor (DD) age was non-linearly associated with graft survival, with the highest risk of graft failure found in the youngest donor age group [0-5 years; compared with donor ages 12-19 years; aHR 1.69 (95% CI 1.26-2.26)], especially among the youngest recipients (0-11 years). DD age had little effect on graft failure in recipients' ages 12-19 years. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that donations from older living donors provide excellent graft outcomes in all paediatric recipients. For young recipients, the allocation of DDs over the age of 5 years should be prioritized.

Alternative complement pathway hemolytic assays reveal incomplete complement blockade in patients treated with eculizumab.

Eculizumab is a monoclonal anti-C5 antibody used in the treatment of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). We monitored complement inhibition in 16 eculizumab-treated patients suffering from HUS or transplant rejection (not aHUS patients). Blood samples were obtained one to four weeks after the last eculizumab injection. We observed that eculizumab efficiently blocked the terminal pathway (TP) through classical pathway (CP) activation measured by kinetic hemolytic assay (HA) (<10%) but incompletely blocked the TP through alternative pathway (AP) activation measured by rabbit (APH50>23%) or chicken erythrocytes HA (AP100>15%). Conversely, functional ELISA revealed a complete blockade of TP through AP activation in all patients (<10%). C5a and sC5b9 levels were not correlated with residual APH50 or AP100. Similar results were obtained after in vitro addition of increasing amounts of eculizumab to a control serum (in vitro APH50>60% and AP100>20%). We also showed that ELISA was less sensitive than HA.

Acute kidney injury in the perioperative period and in intensive care units (excluding renal replacement therapies).

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome that has progressed a great deal over the last 20 years. The decrease in urine output and the increase in classical renal biomarkers, such as blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine, have largely been used as surrogate markers for decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR), which defines AKI. However, using such markers of GFR as criteria for diagnosing AKI has several limits including the difficult diagnosis of non-organic AKI, also called "functional renal insufficiency" or "pre-renal insufficiency". This situation is characterized by an oliguria and an increase in creatininemia as a consequence of a reduction in renal blood flow related to systemic haemodynamic abnormalities. In this situation, "renal insufficiency" seems rather inappropriate as kidney function is not impaired. On the contrary, the kidney delivers an appropriate response aiming to recover optimal systemic physiological haemodynamic conditions. Considering the kidney as insufficient is erroneous because this suggests that it does not work correctly, whereas the opposite is occurring, because the kidney is healthy even in a threatening situation. With current definitions of AKI, normalization of volaemia is needed before defining AKI in order to avoid this pitfall.

Plasma Exchange and Immunoadsorption in Pediatric Inflammatory Optic Neuropathy Resistant to Corticosteroid Therapy: Four French Cases.

Steroids as a foremost therapy are widely used in pediatric optic neuritis (ON). Yet, this treatment is not standardized to date. Some children show a resistance to the classic treatment by steroids. Although plasma exchange (PE) and immunoadsorption (IA) techniques are increasingly being adopted and lead to good results in resistant cases in adult patients, very few studies have shown interest in treating ON when steroids have failed. In this study, we report four observations of children, two of whom are treated by PE and two by IA techniques, describing the treatment protocols together with the side effects observed.

Are there good reasons for inequalities in access to renal transplantation in children?

BACKGROUND: Studies in the USA and Europe have demonstrated inequalities in adult access to renal transplants. We previously demonstrate that the centre of treatment was impacting the time to be registered on the renal waiting list. In this study, we sought to ascertain the influence of patient and centre characteristics on the probability of transplantation within 1 year after registration on the waiting list for children. METHODS: We included patients <18 years awaiting transplantation from the French ESRD National Registry. The effects of patient and centre characteristics were studied by hierarchical logistic regression. Centre effects were assessed by centre-level residual variance. A descriptive survey was performed to investigate differences in the centres' practices, and linear regression was used to confirm findings of different HLA compatibility requirements between centres. RESULTS: The study included 556 patients treated at 54 centres; 450 (80.9%) received transplants in the year after their listing. HLA group scarcity, time of inactive status during the year, pre-emptive listing and listing after age 18 were associated with lower probabilities of transplantation. Patient characteristics explained most of the variability among centres, but patients treated in paediatric centres had a lower probability of transplantation within 1 year because of higher HLA compatibility requirements for transplants. CONCLUSIONS: Although patient characteristics explained most of the inter-centre variability, harmonization of some practices might enable us to reduce some inequalities in access to renal transplantation while maintaining optimal transplant survival and chances to get a second transplant when needed.

Fanconi syndrome and severe polyuria: an uncommon clinicobiological presentation of a Gitelman syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Gitelman syndrome is an autosomal recessive tubulopathy characterized by hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, metabolic alkalosis and hypocalciuria. The majority of patients do not present with symptoms until late childhood or adulthood, and the symptoms are generally mild. We report here the first case of Gitelman syndrome presenting with the biological features of Fanconi syndrome and an early polyuria since the neonatal period. We discuss in this article the atypical electrolytes losses found in our patient, as well as the possible mechanisms of severe polyuria. CASE PRESENTATION: A 6-year-old Caucasian girl was admitted via the Emergency department for vomiting, and initial laboratory investigations found hyponatremia, hypokalemia, metabolic acidosis with normal anion gap, hypophosphatemia, and hypouricemia. Urinalysis revealed Na, K, Ph and uric acid losses. Thus, the initial biological profile was in favor of a proximal tubular defect. However, etiological investigations were inconclusive and the patient was discharged with potassium chloride and phosphorus supplementation. Three weeks later, further laboratory analysis indicated persistent hypokalemia, a metabolic alkalosis, hypomagnesemia, and hypocalciuria. We therefore sequenced the SLC12A3 gene and found a compound heterozygosity for 2 known missense mutations. CONCLUSIONS: Gitelman syndrome can have varying and sometimes atypical presentations, and should be suspected in case of hypokalemic tubular disorders that do not belong to any obvious syndromic entity. In this case, the proximal tubular dysfunction could be secondary to the severe hypokalemia. This report emphasizes the need for clinicians to repeat laboratory tests in undiagnosed tubular disorders, especially not during decompensation episodes.