Prediction Tool to Estimate Potassium Diet in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients Developed Using a Machine Learning Tool: The UniverSel Study.

There is a need for a reliable and validated method to estimate dietary potassium intake in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients to improve prevention of cardiovascular complications. This study aimed to develop a clinical tool to estimate potassium intake using 24-h urinary potassium excretion as a surrogate of dietary potassium intake in this high-risk population. Data of 375 adult CKD-patients routinely collecting their 24-h urine were included to develop a prediction tool to estimate potassium diet. The prediction tool was built from a random sample of 80% of patients and validated on the remaining 20%. The accuracy of the prediction tool to classify potassium diet in the three classes of potassium excretion was 74%. Surprisingly, the variables related to potassium consumption were more related to clinical characteristics and renal pathology than to the potassium content of the ingested food. Artificial intelligence allowed to develop an easy-to-use tool for estimating patients' diets in clinical practice. After external validation, this tool could be extended to all CKD-patients for a better clinical and therapeutic management for the prevention of cardiovascular complications.

[Carfilzomib-induced haemolytic and uremic syndrome: Favorable outcome with eculizumab]. / Syndrome hémolytique et urémique lié au carfilzomib: évolution favorable sous éculizumab.

Thrombotic microangiopathies are rare diseases characterized by an initial endothelial injury and the formation of thrombi in the microcirculation. Several types of thrombotic microangiopathies can be distinguished: the thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura; the hemolytic and uremic syndrome, mainly "typical" following a shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection or "atypical" due to a dysregulation of the alternative complement pathway; and "secondary" thrombotic microangiopathies. The use of drug treatments is reported as a frequent cause in this last category and requires stopping the offending drug. We report the case of a patient who developed "secondary" hemolytic and uremic syndrome associated with carfilzomib, a proteasome inhibitor which is used in case of multiple myeloma relapses. Besides stopping the treatment, the patient still showed signs of hemolysis and renal failure with anuria requiring hemodialysis. An eculizumab treatment was therefore initiated. The overall evolution was favorable and an improvement of the renal function promptly allowed the discontinuation of hemodialysis. We discuss the mechanisms that may activate the alternative complement pathway and the potential interest of a transient use of eculizumab in case of carfilzomib-induced hemolytic and uremic syndrome.