Twenty years of real-world data to estimate chronic kidney disease prevalence and staging in an unselected population.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) represents a global public health burden, but its true prevalence is not fully characterized in the majority of countries. We studied the CKD prevalence in adult users of the primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare units of an integrated health region in northern Portugal (n = 136 993; representing ∼90% of the region's adult population). Of these, 45 983 (33.6%) had at least two estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) assessments and 30 534 (22.2%) had at least two urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (UACR) assessments separated by at least 3 months. CKD was defined according to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines as a persistent decrease in eGFR (<60 ml/min/1.73 m2) and/or an increase in UACR (≥30 mg/g). The estimated overall prevalence of CKD was 9.8% and was higher in females (5.5%) than males (4.2%). From these, it was possible to stratify 4.7% according to KDIGO guidelines. The prevalence of CKD was higher in older patients (especially in patients >70 years old) and in patients with comorbidities. This is the first real-world-based study to characterize CKD prevalence in a large, unselected Portuguese population. It probably provides the nearest estimate of the true CKD prevalence and may help healthcare providers to guide CKD-related policies and strategies focused on prevention and on the improvement of cardiovascular disease and other outcomes.

Absorbed dose rate for marine biota due to the oil spilled using ICRP reference animal and Monte Carlo simulation.

The current study aimed to obtain dose conversion coefficients for marine animals due to an oil spill accident using two variables: crude oil activity concentration and organism depth. Thorium series presented a dose contribution twice that uranium series for similar conditions. Bi-214 and Tl-208 stood out for delivering a higher dose rate for uranium and thorium series, respectively. Results obtained can be used to assess the maximum exposure time for emergency oil control, removal, and mitigation in an oil spill accident.

Association between serum phosphorus and mortality in NHANES 2003-2006: the effect of gender and renal function.

BACKGROUND: The impact of high serum phosphorus in the general population is still debated. Studies are heterogeneous, most lack an adjustment for parathyroid hormone, vitamin D and phosphorus intake and the effect might differ by gender and renal function. We investigated the association between serum phosphorus and mortality in American adults. METHODS: We prospectively analyzed 5698 non-pregnant and non-CKD adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2006. Serum phosphorus and potential confounders including parathyroid hormone, 25(OH)vitamin D and phosphorus intake were evaluated. All-cause, cardiovascular- and cancer-related deaths were recorded through December 31st, 2015. Sex-specific terciles of serum phosphorus were used to fit adjusted Cox proportional hazard models for mortality. Analysis was stratified by gender and renal function. RESULTS: A total of 590 deaths were recorded over a median follow-up of 81 months. Women showed higher serum phosphorus than men. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality was 1.35 (95% CI 1.08-1.58) (p = 0.033) for the third tercile (versus second tercile). This increased risk was present in participants with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) below 90 ml/min/1.73 m2 but not above, although interaction was not significant (p = 0.12). Interaction by gender, phosphorus intake, PTH and fasting time was also not detected. For cardiovascular and cancer mortality, the adjusted HR was 0.81 (95% CI 0.33-2.00) (p = NS) and 1.45 (95% CI 0.77-2.72) (p = NS), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that the highest tercile of serum phosphorus is associated with increased all-cause mortality, irrespective of PTH, 25(OH)vitamin D or phosphorus intake. This association may differ by gender and renal function, but larger studies testing for effect modification are needed.

The efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of central retinal artery occlusion.

Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) is an ophthalmological emergency. Various treatment modalities have been tried, but none have shown to alter natural history of the disease. Hyperoxia can restore retinal oxygenation, and favourable results were obtained with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). We report two patients with sudden visual loss due to CRAO treated with HBOT. Case 1: a 61-year-old female, presented with CRAO in her left eye(OS). She was submitted to eight sessions of HBOT(2.4atmosphere absolute (ATA)). BCVA(Best corrected visual acuity) improved from counting fingers (CF) to 1.0 and fluorescein angiography (FA) showed a normalisation. Vascular study showed a value of 8.8% for HbA1c and ventricular extrasystoles. Case 2: a 69-year-old male presented with CRAO in his OS. Nine sessions of HBOT(2.4 ATA) were performed. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA)improved from CF to 0.8 and the FA was normalised. Vascular study revealed an atheromatous carotid disease, and cardiac pathology. HBOT seems to be beneficial on the recovery of vision following CRAO.