Impact of major illnesses and geographic regions on do-not-resuscitate rate and its potential cost savings in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) is a legal order that demonstrates a patient's will to avoid further suffering from advanced treatment at the end of life. The concept of palliative care is increasingly accepted, but the impacts of different major illnesses, geographic regions, and health expenses on DNR rates remain unclear. METHODS: This study utilized the two-million National Health Insurance (NHI) Research Database to examine the percentage of DNR rates among all deaths in hospitals from 2001 to 2011. DNR in the study was defined as no resuscitation before death in hospitals. Death records were extracted from the database and correlated with healthcare information. Descriptive statistics were compiled to examine the relationships between DNR rates and variables including major illnesses, geographic regions, and NHI spending. RESULTS: A total of 126,390 death records were extracted from the database for analysis. Among cancer-related deaths, pancreatic cancer patients had the highest DNR rate (86.99%) and esophageal cancer patients had the lowest DNR rate (71.62%). The higher DNR rate among cancer-only patients (79.53%) decreased with concomitant dialysis (66.07%) or ventilator use (57.85%). The lower DNR rates in patients with either chronic dialysis (51.27%) or ventilator use (59.10%) increased when patients experienced these two conditions concomitantly (61.31%). Although DNR rates have consistently increased over time across all regions of Taiwan, a persistent disparity was noted between the East and the South (76.89% vs. 70.78% in 2011, p < 0.01). After adjusting for potential confounders, DNR patients had significantly lower NHI spending one year prior to death ($67,553), compared with non-DNR patients. CONCLUSION: Our study found that DNR rates varied across cancer types and decreased in cancer patients with concomitant chronic dialysis or ventilator use. Disparities in DNR rates were evident across geographic regions in Taiwan. A wider adoption of the DNR policy may achieve substantial savings in health expenses and improve patients' quality of life.

Patients with urothelial carcinoma have poor renal outcome regardless of whether they receive nephrouretectomy.

The association between urothelial carcinoma (UC) and subsequent ESRD incidence has not been confirmed. This was a population-based study using claims data from the Taiwan National Health Institutes from 1998 to 2010. The study cohort consisted of 26,017 patients with newly diagnosed UC and no history of ESRD, and the comparison cohort consisted of 208,136 matched enrollees without UC. The incidence of ESRD was ascertained through cross-referencing with a registry for catastrophic illnesses. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to estimate the risk of ESRD associated with UC and UC subtype. A total of 979 patients (3.76%) from the UC group and 1,829 (0.88%) from the comparison group developed ESRD. Multivariable analysis indicated that compared with the comparison group, the hazard ratios (HRs) for ESRD were 7.75 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.84 to 8.78) and 3.12 (95% CI: 6.84 to 8.78) in the cohort with upper urinary tract UC (UT-UC) and bladder UC (B-UC), respectively. In addition, there were significantly increased risks for ESRD in UC patients receiving and not receiving nephrouretectomies or aristolochic acids (AA). Moreover, the UC patients receiving segmental ureterectomy and ureteral reimplantation had approximately 1.3-fold and 2.4-fold increased risk for ESRD after control for confounders, respectively. Thus, our data indicate that UT-UC and B-UC independently increased the risk for ESRD in patients after considering about nephrouretectomies or aristolochic acids (AA). In addition, UC patients receiving segmental ureterectomy and ureteral reimplantation had increased risk for ESRD.

Establishment of a renal supportive care program: Experience from a rural community hospital in Taiwan.

Renal supportive care (RSC) denotes a care program dedicated for patients with acute, chronic renal failure, and end-stage renal disease (ESRD), aiming to offer maximal symptom relief and optimize patients' quality of life. The uncertainty of prognosis for patients with chronic kidney disease and ESRD, the sociocultural issues inherent to the Taiwanese society, and the void of structured and practical RSC pathway, contributes to the underrecognition and poor utilization of RSC. Taiwanese patients rarely receive information regarding RSC as part of a standardized care and are not commonly offered this option. In National Taiwan University Hospital Jinshan branch, we started a RSC subprogram, supported by the community-based palliative/hospice care main program. We focused on understanding the need and providing the choice of RSC to suitable candidates. A three-step and four-phase protocol was designed and implemented to identify appropriate patients and to enhance the applicability of the RSC. We harnessed family visit and home-based family meeting as a vehicle to understand the patients' preferences, to discover what ESRD patients and their family value most, and to introduce the option of RSC. In the current review, we described our pilot experience of establishing a RSC program in Taiwan, and discuss its potential advantage.

Cumulative Cardiovascular Polypharmacy Is Associated With the Risk of Acute Kidney Injury in Elderly Patients.

Polypharmacy is common in the elderly due to multimorbidity and interventions. However, the temporal association between polypharmacy and renal outcomes is rarely addressed and recognized. We investigated the association between cardiovascular (CV) polypharmacy and the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) in elderly patients.We used the Taiwan National Health Insurance PharmaCloud system to investigate the relationship between cumulative CV medications in the 3 months before admission and risk of AKI in the elderly at their admission to general medical wards in a single center. Community-dwelling elderly patients (>60 years) were prospectively enrolled and classified according to the number of preadmission CV medications. CV polypharmacy was defined as use of 2 or more CV medications.We enrolled 152 patients, 48% with AKI (based upon Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes [KDIGO] classification) and 64% with CV polypharmacy. The incidence of AKI was higher in patients taking more CV medications (0 drugs: 33%; 1 drug: 50%; 2 drugs: 57%; 3 or more drugs: 60%; P = 0.05) before admission. Patients with higher KDIGO grades also took more preadmission CV medications (P = 0.04). Multiple regression analysis showed that patients who used 1 or more CV medications before admission had increased risk of AKI at admission (1 drug: odds ratio [OR] = 1.63, P = 0.2; 2 drugs: OR = 4.74, P = 0.03; 3 or more drugs: OR = 5.92, P = 0.02), and that CV polypharmacy is associated with higher risk of AKI (OR 2.58; P = 0.02). Each additional CV medication increased the risk for AKI by 30%.We found that elderly patients taking more CV medications are associated with risk of adverse renal events. Further study to evaluate whether interventions that reduce polypharmacy could reduce the incidence of geriatric AKI is urgently needed.

Increased risk of end-stage renal disease in patients with renal cell carcinoma: a 12-year nationwide follow-up study.

The effect of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) on the risk for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has not been confirmed. The present population-based study used the claims data from the Taiwan National Health Institutes from 1998 to 2010 to compare the risk for ESRD in patients with and without RCC.The study cohort consisted of 2940 patients who had newly diagnosed with RCC but no history of ESRD; the control cohort consisted of 23,520 matched patients without RCC. Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed to compute ESRD risk after adjusting for possible confounding factors. Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test were also used to compare patients and controls.A total of 119 patients in the RCC group (incidence rate: 119/2940; 4.05%) and 160 patients in the control group (incidence rate: 160/23,520; 0.68%) were diagnosed with ESRD during the follow-up period. After adjusting for potential confounders, the RCC group had an ESRD hazard ratio (HR) of 5.63 [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.37-7.24] relative to the control group. In addition, among patients with RCC, females (adjusted HR: 6.95, 95% CI: 4.82-10.1) had a higher risk for ESRD than males (adjusted HR: 4.79, 95% CI: 3.37-6.82). Finally, there were significant joint effects of chronic kidney disease and diabetes on increasing the risk of ESRD in patients with and without RCC (P < 0.01). The limitations of this study include the retrospective design and the inability to assess methods of treatment and measure the aggressiveness of RCC.Our data indicates that RCC is an independent risk factor for ESRD, especially in females.

Impact of body mass on outcomes of geriatric postoperative acute kidney injury patients.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) frequently occurs in hospitalized patients, particularly in the elderly. However, studies on outcome-modifying factors in geriatric patients with AKI are absent, especially the influence of body mass index (BMI). METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected multicenter observational cohort, which enrolled elderly (≥65 years) who developed AKI after major surgery in the intensive care units. We analyzed in-hospital mortality within BMI category utilizing Cox proportional hazard regression analysis and generalized additive modeling. RESULTS: Data of a total of 2,015 postoperative elderly patients were retrieved and analyzed. Generalized additive modeling showed that elderly AKI patients with a BMI between 21 and 31 kg/m(2) ("normal") had a lower mortality risk than those with a BMI of less than 21 kg/m(2) ("underweight") or 31 kg/m(2) or greater ("obese"). Both "underweight" and "obese" individuals had a greater risk of mortality compared with patients with "normal" BMI. CONCLUSIONS: The U-shaped association of BMI with hospital mortality in geriatric AKI patients contains a widened base and a shifted nadir comparing with chronic dialysis and other AKI patients. This finding is interesting and warrants our attention.

After-hours physician care for patients with do-not-resuscitate orders: an observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Medical care at night for patients with do-not-resuscitate orders and the practice patterns of the on-call residents have rarely been reported. AIM: To evaluate the after-hours physician care for patients with do-not-resuscitate orders in the general medicine ward. DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: This study was conducted at an urban, university-affiliated academic medical center in Taiwan. The night shift nurses consecutively recorded every event that required calling the duty residents. Patients with and without a do-not-resuscitate order were compared in demographics, reasons for calling, residents' response, and nurses' satisfaction. A standard report form was established for the nurses to record events. RESULTS: From October 2009 to September 2010, 1379 inpatients contributed to 456 after-hours calls. do-not-resuscitate patients accounted for 256 (18.7%) of all inpatients, and 160 (35.1%) of all after-hours calls. The leading reason for calls was abnormal vital signs, which was significantly higher for patients with do-not-resuscitate orders compared to patients without a do-not-resuscitate order (64.4% vs 36.1%, p < 0.001). The pattern of residents' responses showed a significant difference with more bedside visits for patients with do-not-resuscitate orders (p < 0.001). The nurses were usually satisfied with the residents' management of both groups. CONCLUSION: Abnormal vital sign, rather than symptom, was the leading reason for after-hours calls. The existence of do-not-resuscitate order produced different medical needs and physician workload. Patients with do-not-resuscitate orders accounted for one-third of night calls and nearly half of bedside visits by on-call residents and may require a different care approach.

Acute kidney injury network staging in geriatric postoperative acute kidney injury patients: shortcomings and improvements.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) is rising, particularly among the elderly. However, the optimal risk stratification scheme for these patients is unknown. The Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) classification application in geriatric patients has not been previously confirmed. STUDY DESIGN: In this multicenter study, elderly patients (>65 years old) who had major surgery and were admitted to ICUs between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2008 were recruited and grouped according to the AKIN creatinine criteria. The utility of the AKIN criteria for the prediction of in-hospital mortality was determined using Cox proportional hazard regression modeling. RESULTS: A total of 4,240 eligible patients were identified and separated into "non-AKI" (n = 3,259), AKIN 1 (n = 582), AKIN 2 (n = 78), and AKIN 3 groups (n = 321). Cox proportional hazard regression analysis revealed that the AKIN 3 group has a significantly higher hospital mortality compared with the non-AKI group (hazard ratio [HR] 3.19, 95% CI 2.16 to 4.71; p < 0.001); the AKIN 1 (p = 0.611) and AKIN 2 (p = 0.104) groups have no significant differences compared with the non-AKI group. After excluding patients who received hemodialysis 1 week postoperatively, the AKIN 2 group predicted a significantly higher risk of hospital mortality compared with the non-AKI group (HR 2.31; p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate the poor applicability of the AKIN classification in the prediction of in-hospital mortality in geriatric postoperative AKI patients. Consideration of late dialysis status may enhance the discriminative power of AKIN in this specific population.

Abdominal obesity is associated with peripheral artery disease in hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a leading cause of morbidity in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Recent evidence suggests that abdominal obesity (AO) may play a role in PAD. However, the association between AO and PAD has not been thoroughly studied in HD patients. METHODS: The present cross-sectional study aimed to examine the relationship between AO and PAD in a cohort of 204 chronic HD patients. The ankle brachial index (ABI) was used as an estimate of the presence of PAD. Plasma adiponectin levels, interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels, and lipid profiles were measured. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between the presence of PAD and AO as well as other potential risk factors. RESULTS: The metabolic risk factors and all individual traits, including elevated ln-transformed hs-CRP, were found to be significant (P<0.05) more frequently in HD patients with AO than that in control subjects. Patients with AO had a higher prevalence of PAD than the control individuals, with a mean ABI of 0.96 ± 0.23 and 1.08 ± 0.16 (P<0.0001) and PAD prevalence of 26.9% and 10.8% (P = 0.003), respectively. By multivariate analysis, AO (odds ratio [OR], 4.532; 95% CI, 1.765-11.639; P = 0.002), elevated serum ln-transformed ADMA (OR, 5.535; 95% CI, 1.323-23.155; P = 0.019), and ln-transformed IL-6 (OR, 1.567; 95% CI, 1.033-2.378; P = 0.035) were independent predictors of the presence of PAD. CONCLUSIONS: HD patients with AO exhibited a cluster of metabolic risk factors and lower ABI. AO, elevated serum ln-transformed ADMA, and ln-transformed IL-6 were independent predictors of the presence of PAD.

Demand and predictors for post-discharge medical counseling in home care patients: a prospective cohort study.

RATIONALE: Post-discharge care is challenging due to the high rate of adverse events after discharge. However, details regarding post-discharge care requirements remain unclear. Post-discharge medical counseling (PDMC) by telephone service was set-up to investigate its demand and predictors. METHODS: This prospective study was conducted from April 2011 to March 2012 in a tertiary referral center in northern Taiwan. Patients discharged for home care were recruited and educated via telephone hotline counseling when needed. The patient's characteristics and call-in details were recorded, and predictors of PDMC use and worsening by red-flag sign were analyzed. RESULTS: During the study period, 224 patients were enrolled. The PDMC was used 121 times by 65 patients in an average of 8.6 days after discharge. The red-flag sign was noted in 17 PDMC from 16 patients. Of the PDMC used, 50% (n = 60) were for symptom change and the rest were for post-discharge care problems and issues regarding other administrative services. Predictors of PDMC were underlying malignancy and lower Barthel index (BI). On the other hand, lower BI, higher adjusted Charlson co-morbidity index (CCI), and longer length of hospital stay were associated with PDMC and red-flag sign. CONCLUSIONS: Demand for PDMC may be as high as 29% in home care patients within 30 days after discharge. PDMC is needed more by patients with malignancy and lower BI. More focus should also be given to those with lower BI, higher CCI, and longer length of hospital stay, as they more frequently have red flag signs.

Sex differences in the development of malignancies among end-stage renal disease patients: a nationwide population-based follow-up study in Taiwan.

Increasing evidence indicates that end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with the morbidity of cancer. However, whether different dialysis modality and sex effect modify the cancer risks in ESRD patients remains unclear. A total of 3,570 newly diagnosed ESRD patients and 14,280 controls matched for age, sex, index month, and index year were recruited from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. The ESRD status was ascertained from the registry of catastrophic illness patients. The incidence of cancer was identified through cross-referencing with the National Cancer Registry System. The Cox proportional hazards model and the Kaplan-Meier method were used for analyses. A similar twofold increase in cancer risk was observed among ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD) after adjusting for other potential risk factors. Patients with the highest cancer risk, approximately fourfold increased risk, were those received renal transplants. Urothelial carcinoma (UC) had the highest incidence in HD and PD patients. However, renal cell carcinoma (RCC) had the highest incidence in the renal transplantation (RT) group. In addition, female patients undergoing RT or PD had a higher incidence of RCC and UC, respectively. Male patients under HD had both higher incidence of RCC and UC. In conclusion, different dialysis modality could modify the cancer risks in ESRD patients. We also found sex effect on genitourinary malignancy when they are under different dialysis modality.

U-curve association between timing of renal replacement therapy initiation and in-hospital mortality in postoperative acute kidney injury.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with poor outcomes in surgical patients. This study aims to evaluate whether the timing of renal replacement therapy (RRT) initiation affects the in-hospital mortality of patients with postoperative AKI. METHODOLOGY: This multicenter retrospective observational study, which was conducted in the intensive care units (ICUs) in a tertiary hospital (National Taiwan University Hospital) and its branch hospitals in Taiwan between January, 2002, and April, 2009, included adult patients with postoperative AKI who underwent RRT for predefined indications. The demographic data, comorbid diseases, types of surgery and RRT, and the indications for RRT were documented. Patients were categorized according to the period of time between the ICU admission and RRT initiation as the early (EG, ≦1 day), intermediate (IG, 2-3 days), and late (LG, ≧4 days) groups. The in-hospital mortality rate censored at 180 day was defined as the endpoint. RESULTS: Six hundred forty-eight patients (418 men, mean age 63.0±15.9 years) were enrolled, and 379 patients (58.5%) died during the hospitalization. Both the estimated probability of death and the in-hospital mortality rates of the three groups represented U-curves. According to the Cox proportional hazard method, LG (hazard ratio, 1.527; 95% confidence interval, 1.152-2.024; P = 0.003, compared with IG group), age (1.014; 1.006-1.021), diabetes (1.279; 1.022-1.601; P = 0.031), cirrhosis (2.147; 1.421-3.242), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support (1.811; 1.391-2.359), initial neurological dysfunction (1.448; 1.107-1.894; P = 0.007), pre-RRT mean arterial pressure (0.988; 0.981-0.995), inotropic equivalent (1.006; 1.001-1.012; P = 0.013), APACHE II scores (1.055; 1.037-1.073), and sepsis (1.939; 1.536-2.449) were independent predictors of the in-hospital mortality (All P<0.001 except otherwise stated). CONCLUSIONS: The current study found a U-curve association between the timing of the RRT initiation after the ICU admission and patients' in-hospital mortalities, and alerts physicians of certain factors affecting the outcome after the RRT initiation.

Advanced age affects the outcome-predictive power of RIFLE classification in geriatric patients with acute kidney injury.

The RIFLE (risk, injury, failure, loss, and end-stage) classification is widely used to gauge the severity of acute kidney injury, but its efficacy has not been formally tested in geriatric patients. To correct this we conducted a prospective observational study in a multicenter cohort of 3931 elderly patients (65 years of age or older) who developed acute kidney injury in accordance with the RIFLE creatinine criteria after major surgery. We studied the predictive power of the RIFLE classification for in-hospital mortality and investigated the potential interaction between age and RIFLE classification. In general, the survivors were significantly younger than the nonsurvivors and more likely to have hypertension. In patients 76 years of age and younger, RIFLE-R, -I, or -F classifications were significantly associated with increased hospital mortality in a stepwise manner. There was no significant difference, however, in hospital mortality in those over 76 years of age between patients with RIFLE-R and RIFLE-I, although RIFLE-F patients had significantly higher mortality than both groups. Thus, the less severe categorizations of acute kidney injury per RIFLE classification may not truly reflect the adverse impact on elderly patients.

Acute-on-chronic kidney injury at hospital discharge is associated with long-term dialysis and mortality.

Existing chronic kidney disease (CKD) is among the most potent predictors of postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). Here we quantified this risk in a multicenter, observational study of 9425 patients who survived to hospital discharge after major surgery. CKD was defined as a baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate <45 ml/min per 1.73 m(2). AKI was stratified according to the maximum simplified RIFLE classification at hospitalization and unresolved AKI defined as a persistent increase in serum creatinine of more than half above the baseline or the need for dialysis at discharge. A Cox proportional hazard model showed that patients with AKI-on-CKD during hospitalization had significantly worse long-term survival over a median follow-up of 4.8 years (hazard ratio, 1.7) [corrected] than patients with AKI but without CKD.The incidence of long-term dialysis was 22.4 and 0.17 per 100 person-years among patients with and without existing CKD, respectively. The adjusted hazard ratio for long-term dialysis in patients with AKI-on-CKD was 19.8 compared to patients who developed AKI without existing CKD. Furthermore, AKI-on-CKD but without kidney recovery at discharge had a worse outcome (hazard ratios of 4.6 and 213, respectively) for mortality and long-term dialysis as compared to patients without CKD or AKI. Thus, in a large cohort of postoperative patients who developed AKI, those with existing CKD were at higher risk for long-term mortality and dialysis after hospital discharge than those without. These outcomes were significantly worse in those with unresolved AKI at discharge.

Urothelial carcinoma in patients with advanced kidney disease: a 12-year retrospective cohort survey.

INTRODUCTION: The goal of this study was to compare the clinical and pathological features of urothelial carcinoma (UC) identified in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and advanced-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD). The predictive value of CKD on patient mortality in these UC patients was also analyzed. METHODS: From January 1997 to December 2008, 141 patients with pathologically proven UC with stage 4/5 CKD (predialysis) and patients with ESRD receiving long-term dialysis were identified under an institutional review board approval protocol. The medical records and survival outcome of these patients were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 141 UC patients with renal diseases (n = 97, 68.8%, of stage 4/5 CKD; n = 44, 31.2%, at dialysis) were enrolled. Patients with stage 4/5 CKD were significantly older, male gender, less anemic and more likely to have higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus (P < 0.05). We noticed a more significant increase in the frequency of high-stage UC (24.7% and 6.8%) and a larger tumor size (50.5% and 27.3%) in patients with stage 4/5 CKD, compared with patients with ESRD (P < 0.05). Old age at the time of dialysis initiation in patients with ESRD [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.121, P = 0.039], male gender (HR = 6.822, P = 0.016) and high-stage tumors (HR = 5.012, P = 0.008) in patients with stage 4/5 CKD were independent predictors of mortality from UC. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with stage 4/5 CKD had more aggressive histological UC patterns than did patients with ESRD.

Gender effect on renal outcome in patients with urothelial carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Taiwan is a highly endemic area for urothelial carcinoma (UC) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). We evaluate the gender effect on the relationship between renal outcome and clinical characteristics of CKD patients with UC. METHODS: The clinical and pathologic records of 404 patients were retrospectively analyzed. We calculated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation, and staged CKD status according to K/DOQI guideline. RESULTS: The female group had a significantly higher proportion (67.6% vs 29.0%, P < 0.001) of upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UUT-UC). Pathologically, the frequency of high T stage UC (32.4% and 19.1%; P = 0.003), high-grade UC (89.4% and 75.6%; P = 0.001), and larger UC (51.4% and 37.8%; P = 0.009) in the female patients were significantly higher, when compared with the male group. Male gender, diabetes, anemia, poor preoperative renal function, UUT-UC, and low-grade tumor were independent risk factors of poor renal outcome by multivariate analysis in these UC patients. Diabetes was a risk factor of poor renal outcome in male UUT-UC patients, but not in the female patients (P = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Female gender had a more aggressive histological urothelial carcinoma pattern than male patients did, but paradoxically had a more favorable renal outcome.

Transient elastography to assess hepatic fibrosis in hemodialysis chronic hepatitis C patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although percutaneous liver biopsy (PLB) is the gold standard for staging hepatic fibrosis in hemodialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) before renal transplantation or antiviral therapy, concerns exist about serious postbiopsy complications. Using transient elastography (TE, Fibroscan(®)) to predict the severity of hepatic fibrosis has not been prospectively evaluated in these patients. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: A total of 284 hemodialysis patients with CHC were enrolled. TE and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) were performed before PLB. The severity of hepatic fibrosis was staged by METAVIR scores ranging from F0 to F4. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to assess the diagnostic accuracy of TE and APRI, taking PLB as the reference standard. RESULTS: The areas under curves of TE were higher than those of APRI in predicting patients with significant hepatic fibrosis (≥F2) (0.96 versus 0.84, P<0.001), those with advanced hepatic fibrosis (≥F3) (0.98 versus 0.93, P=0.04), and those with cirrhosis (F4) (0.99 versus 0.92, P=0.13). Choosing optimized liver stiffness measurements of 5.3, 8.3, and 9.2 kPa had high sensitivity (93-100%) and specificity (88-99%), and 87, 97, and 93% of the patients with a fibrosis stage of ≥F2, ≥F3, and F4 were correctly diagnosed without PLB, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: TE is superior to APRI in assessing the severity of hepatic fibrosis and can substantially decrease the need of staging PLB in hemodialysis patients with CHC.

The ratio of aminotransferase to platelets is a useful index for predicting hepatic fibrosis in hemodialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Percutaneous liver biopsy is the gold standard for staging hepatic fibrosis of hemodialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C before renal transplantation or antiviral therapy. Concerns exist, however, about serious post-biopsy complications. To evaluate a more simple approach using standard laboratory tests to predict hepatic fibrosis and its evolution, we studied 279 consecutive hemodialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C and a baseline biopsy. Among them, 175 receiving antiviral therapy underwent follow-up biopsy to evaluate the histological evolution of fibrosis. Multivariate analysis of routine laboratory tests at baseline showed the aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index was an independent predictor of significant hepatic fibrosis. The areas under curves of this ratio to predict fibrosis stages F2-4 were 0.83 and 0.71 in the baseline and follow-up sets; and 0.75 and 0.80 respectively, for patients with sustained or non-sustained virological response groups in the follow-up sets. By a judicious setting of cut-off levels for the baseline and non-sustained groups, and the sustained virological response group, almost half and 60 percent of the baseline and follow-up sets could be correctly diagnosed without biopsy. Our study found the aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index is accurate and reproducible for assessing hepatic fibrosis in hemodialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C. Applying this simple index could decrease the need of percutaneous liver biopsy in this clinical setting.

Residual urine output and postoperative mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between residual urine output and postoperative survival in maintenance hemodialysis patients is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between amount of urine before surgery and postoperative mortality and differences between postoperative nonanuria and anuria in maintenance hemodialysis patients. METHODS: A total of 109 maintenance hemodialysis patients underwent major operations. Anuria was defined as urine output <30 mL in the 8 hours before the first session of postoperative dialysis. Propensity scores for postoperative anuria were developed. RESULTS: Postoperative residual urine output was 159.2 mL/8 h (SD, 115.1) in 33 patients; 76 patients were anuric. Preoperative residual urine output and adequate perioperative blood transfusion were positively related to postoperative urine output. Propensity-adjusted 30-day mortality was associated with postoperative anuria (odds ratio [OR], 4.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-17.96; P = .03), prior stroke (OR, 4.46; 95% CI, 1.43-13.89; P = .01) and higher disease severity (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.00-1.21; P = .049) at the first postoperative dialysis. OR of 30-day mortality was 5.38 for nonanuria to anuria vs nonanuria to nonanuria (P = .03) and 5.13 for preoperative anuria vs nonanuria to nonanuria (P = .01). By Kaplan-Meier analysis, 30-day mortality differed significantly among patients for nonanuria to nonanuria, anuria, and nonanuria to anuria (log rank, P = .045). CONCLUSION: Patients with preoperative nonanuria and postoperative anuria had higher mortality than did patients with no anuria before and after surgery and patients with anuria before surgery. Postoperative residual urine output is an important surrogate marker for disease severity.