Outcome-dependent geographic and individual variations in the access to renal transplantation in incident dialysed patients: a French nationwide cohort study.

This study investigated geographical variations of access to renal transplantation using three outcomes (access to the transplant waiting list, access to renal transplantation after waitlisting and access to renal transplantation after dialysis start). Associations of patient-related and regional variables with the studied outcomes were assessed using a Cox shared frailty model and a Fine and Gray model. At the study endpoint (December 31, 2015), 26.3% of all 18-90-year-old patients who started dialysis in the 22 mainland and four overseas French regions in 2012 (n = 9312) were waitlisted and 15.1% received a kidney transplant. The geographical disparities of access to renal transplantation varied according to the studied outcome. Patients from the Ile-de-France region had the highest probability of being waitlisted, but were less likely to receive a kidney transplant. Two regional factors were associated with the access to the waiting list and to renal transplantation from dialysis start: the incidence of preemptive kidney transplantation and of ESRD. The use of different outcomes to evaluate access to kidney transplantation could help healthcare policy-makers to select the most appropriate interventions for each region in order to reduce treatment disparities.

Daily hemodialysis practices in Australia/New Zealand and in France: a comparative cohort study.

BACKGROUND: As patients on daily hemodialysis (DHD) have heterogeneous profiles, DHD benefit in terms of survival is still debated. The aim of this study was to compare DHD practices in France and in Australia and New Zealand. METHODS: This study was based on data from the French Renal Epidemiology and Information Network (REIN) and the Australian and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry (ANZDATA). All incident patients from both registries who underwent DHD (i.e., 5-6 sessions/week, including short daily hemodialysis and long nocturnal hemodialysis) at least once during their trajectories were included, and their characteristics and care trajectories were compared. For survival analyses, one French patient was matched to one Australian or New Zealand patient, based on age, sex and year of dialysis start. Survival was assessed using the Cox proportional hazards model, and access to renal transplantation was evaluated using the Fine & Gray model to take into account death as competing risk. RESULTS: Between 2003 and 2012, 523 patients from the AZNDATA and 753 from the REIN registry started DHD. ANZDATA patients were younger (54.8 vs 64.0 years, p < 0.001) and had comorbidities more frequently than French patients. In both registries, one third of patients were on early DHD (i.e., DHD started less than one year after dialysis initiation). Long nocturnal hemodialysis was more frequent in the ANZDATA than in the REIN cohort (20.8 and 3%, respectively). Comparison of the matched subgroups showed comparable survival rates between French and Australian/New Zealand patients (HRadjusted = 1.08; 95%CI: 0.78-1.50). Access to renal transplantation also was similar between matched groups (SHRadjusted = 1.30, 95%CI: 0.86-1.97). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that, despite differences in terms of patients' characteristics and DHD regimens, the mortality risk and access to renal transplantation are similar in France and Australia and New Zealand.

French patients on daily hemodialysis: clinical characteristics and treatment trajectories.

BACKGROUND: Increasing the weekly frequency of hemodialysis sessions has positive effects, on the control of several biological data of patients. However, knowledge about Daily HemoDialysis (DHD) practices is limited in France. The aim of the present study was to describe the characteristics and treatment trajectories of all French patients undergoing DHD. METHODS: All patients older than 18 years who started DHD between 2003 and 2012 in France were included and followed until December 31, 2013. The patients' demographic and clinical characteristics and treatment modalities were extracted from the French Renal Epidemiological and Information Network (REIN) registry. RESULTS: During the inclusion period, 753 patients started DHD in France. Based on their median age (64 years), patients were classified in two groups: "old" group (≥64 years) and "young" group (<64 years). Patients in the old group had more comorbidities than in the young group: 48 % had diabetes (vs 29 % in the young group), 17 % an active malignancy (vs 10 %) and 80 % ≥1 cardiovascular disease (vs 41 %). Concerning patients' treatment trajectories, 496 (66 %) patients started with another dialysis before switching to DHD and 257 (34 %) directly with DHD. At the end of the follow-up, 69 % of patients in the old group were dead (27.4 % in the young group) and kidney transplantation was more frequent in the young group (30.4 % vs 0.5 %). CONCLUSION: In France, DHD is proposed not only to young in rather good clinical conditions and waiting for kidney transplantation, but also to old and frail patients with higher mortality.

From tuberous sclerosis complex to end stage renal disease: who are these patients?

In patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), renal complications are not limited to bleeding angiomyolipoma (AML); although rare, end-stage renal disease (ESRD) may occur. New treatments (e.g., mammalian target of rapamycin (m-Tor) inhibitors) for AML might influence the epidemiology of ESRD in patients with TSC. In France, 99 patients with TSC from the Renal Epidemiology and Information Network (REIN) registry and having undergone renal replacement therapy (RRT) between 2002 and 2016 were included in the present study. Additional data were collected from the patients' medical charts. The mean ± standard deviation age at RRT initiation was 48.4 ± 16.4 and 73.8% had a neurologic impairment. Fifty-four patients underwent kidney transplantation after an average of 23 ± 12.3 months on dialysis. Among the 61 patients with additional data the most common renal lesion was AML: 26.2% of the patients had isolated AML, and 26.2% had AML and renal cysts, 65.6% of patients had undergone nephrectomy, and 16.4% had undergone at least one embolization. None of the patients had been treated with an m-Tor inhibitor before dialysis. The graft survival rate was 92.5% at 5 years and 70.2% at 10 years. The present cohort study is the first to have assessed TSC patients on RRT from a national registry. Nephrectomy or embolization due to AML was the leading cause of ESRD in our cohort. By reducing the size of the AML, m-tor inhibitors might lower the risk of complications and thus reduce the number of patients with TSC requiring RRT.

Cancer risk in dialyzed patients with and without diabetes.

BACKGROUND: The risk of cancer is higher in patients with renal diseases and diabetes compared with the general population. The aim of this study was to assess in dialyzed patients, the association between diabetes and the risk to develop a cancer after dialysis start. METHODS: All patients who started dialysis in the French region of Poitou-Charentes between 2008 and 2015 were included. Their baseline characteristics were extracted from the French Renal Epidemiology and Information Network and were linked to data relative to cancer occurrence from the Poitou-Charentes General Cancer Registry using a procedure developed by the INSHARE platform. The association between diabetes and the risk of cancer was assessed using the Fine & Gray model that takes into account the competing risk of death. RESULTS: Among the 1634 patients included, 591 (36.2 %) had diabetes and 91 (5.6 %) patients developed a cancer (n = 24 before or at dialysis start, and n = 67 after dialysis start). The risk to develop a cancer after dialysis initiation was lower in dialyzed patients with diabetes than without diabetes (SHR = 0.54; 95 %CI: 0.32-0.91). Moreover, compared with the general population, the cancer risk was higher in dialyzed patients without diabetes, but not in those with diabetes. CONCLUSION: The risk of developing a cancer in the region of Poitou-Charentes is higher in dialyzed patients without diabetes than with diabetes.