Aerosolized Calfactant for Newborns With Respiratory Distress: A Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Exogenous surfactants to treat respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) are approved for tracheal instillation only; this requires intubation, often followed by positive pressure ventilation to promote distribution. Aerosol delivery offers a safer alternative, but clinical studies have had mixed results. We hypothesized that efficient aerosolization of a surfactant with low viscosity, early in the course of RDS, could reduce the need for intubation and instillation of liquid surfactant. METHODS: A prospective, multicenter, randomized, unblinded comparison trial of aerosolized calfactant (Infasurf) in newborns with signs of RDS that required noninvasive respiratory support. Calfactant was aerosolized by using a Solarys nebulizer modified with a pacifier adapter; 6 mL/kg (210 mg phospholipid/kg body weight) were delivered directly into the mouth. Infants in the aerosol group received up to 3 treatments, at least 4 hours apart. Infants in the control group received usual care, determined by providers. Infants were intubated and given instilled surfactant for persistent or worsening respiratory distress, at their providers' discretion. RESULTS: Among 22 NICUs, 457 infants were enrolled; gestation 23 to 41 (median 33) weeks and birth weight 595 to 4802 (median 1960) grams. In total, 230 infants were randomly assigned to aerosol; 225 received 334 treatments, starting at a median of 5 hours. The rates of intubation for surfactant instillation were 26% in the aerosol group and 50% in the usual care group (P < .0001). Respiratory outcomes up to 28 days of age were no different. CONCLUSIONS: In newborns with early, mild to moderate respiratory distress, aerosolized calfactant at a dose of 210 mg phospholipid/kg body weight reduced intubation and surfactant instillation by nearly one-half.

International Robotic Radical Cystectomy Consortium: A way forward.

Robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) is an emerging operative alternative to open surgery for the management of invasive bladder cancer. Studies from single institutions provide limited data due to the small number of patients. In order to better understand the related outcomes, a world-wide consortium was established in 2006 of patients undergoing RARC, called the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium (IRCC). Thus far, the IRCC has reported its findings on various areas of operative interest and continues to expand its capacity to include other operative modalities and transform it into the International Radical Cystectomy Consortium. This article summarizes the findings of the IRCC and highlights the future direction of the consortium.

Vowel acoustics in Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis: comparison of clear, loud, and slow speaking conditions.

PURPOSE: The impact of clear speech, increased vocal intensity, and rate reduction on acoustic characteristics of vowels was compared in speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD), speakers with multiple sclerosis (MS), and healthy controls. METHOD: Speakers read sentences in habitual, clear, loud, and slow conditions. Variations in clarity, intensity, and rate were stimulated using magnitude production. Formant frequency values for peripheral and nonperipheral vowels were obtained at 20%, 50%, and 80% of vowel duration to derive static and dynamic acoustic measures. Intensity and duration measures were obtained. RESULTS: Rate was maximally reduced in the slow condition, and vocal intensity was maximized in the loud condition. The clear condition also yielded a reduced articulatory rate and increased intensity, although less than for the slow or loud conditions. Overall, the clear condition had the most consistent impact on vowel spectral characteristics. Spectral and temporal distinctiveness for peripheral-nonperipheral vowel pairs was largely similar across conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Clear speech maximized peripheral and nonperipheral vowel space areas for speakers with PD and MS while also reducing rate and increasing vocal intensity. These results suggest that a speech style focused on increasing articulatory amplitude yields the most robust changes in vowel segmental articulation.

A phase II study of high-dose cetuximab plus irinotecan in colorectal cancer patients with KRAS wild-type tumors who progressed after standard dose of cetuximab plus irinotecan.

OBJECTIVES: We conducted a phase II clinical trial of high-dose cetuximab plus irinotecan in KRAS wild-type patients who progressed on standard-dose cetuximab plus irinotecan. METHODS: Patients who progressed within 4 weeks from receiving a minimum of 6 weeks of standard-dose cetuximab plus irinotecan were included in this study. Cetuximab was administered at 500 mg/m(2)/week and irinotecan was administered at the same dose/schedule on which each individual patient had previously progressed. The study was closed early after having met its primary end point. RESULTS: Twenty patients were treated. The regimen was found to be efficacious, with 9 patients achieving disease control lasting more than 12 weeks. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 2.8 and 6.6 months, respectively. The toxicity profile was favorable, with the exception of grade 3-4 hypomagnesemia which was noted in 25% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: High-dose cetuximab plus irinotecan rechallenge can re-elicit clinical benefits in patients who have previously failed cetuximab plus irinotecan treatment. The clinical benefits are modest and may be related to cetuximab rechallenge rather than cetuximab dose escalation.

Acoustic and perceptual consequences of clear and loud speech.

OBJECTIVE: Several issues concerning F2 slope in dysarthria were addressed by obtaining speech acoustic measures and judgments of intelligibility for sentences produced in Habitual, Clear and Loud conditions by speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthy controls. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Acoustic measures of average and maximum F2 slope for diphthongs, duration and intensity were obtained. Listeners judged intelligibility using a visual analog scale. Differences in measures among groups and conditions as well as relationships among measures were examined. RESULTS: Average and maximum F2 slope metrics were strongly correlated, but only average F2 slope consistently differed among groups and conditions, with shallower slopes for the PD group and steeper slopes for Clear speech versus Habitual and Loud. Clear and Loud speech were also characterized by lengthened durations, increased intensity and improved intelligibility versus Habitual. F2 slope and intensity were unrelated, and F2 slope was a significant predictor of intelligibility. CONCLUSION: Average diphthong F2 slope was more sensitive than maximum F2 slope to articulatory mechanism involvement in mild dysarthria in PD. F2 slope holds promise as an objective measure of treatment-related changes in the articulatory mechanism for therapeutic techniques that focus on articulation.

Design and synthesis of multifunctional gold nanoparticles bearing tumor-associated glycopeptide antigens as potential cancer vaccines.

The development of vaccines against specific types of cancers will offer new modalities for therapeutic intervention. Here, we describe the synthesis of a novel vaccine construction prepared from spherical gold nanoparticles of 3-5 nm core diameters. The particles were coated with both the tumor-associated glycopeptides antigens containing the cell-surface mucin MUC4 with Thomsen Friedenreich (TF) antigen attached at different sites and a 28-residue peptide from the complement derived protein C3d to act as a B-cell activating "molecular adjuvant". The synthesis entailed solid-phase glycopeptide synthesis, design of appropriate linkers, and attachment chemistry of the various molecules to the particles. Attachment to the gold surface was mediated by a novel thiol-containing 33 atom linker which was further modified to be included as a third "spacer" component in the synthesis of several three-component vaccine platforms. Groups of mice were vaccinated either with one of the nanoplatform constructs or with control particles without antigen coating. Evaluation of sera from the immunized animals in enzyme immunoassays (EIA) against each glycopeptide antigen showed a small but statistically significant immune response with production of both IgM and IgG isotypes. Vaccines with one carbohydrate antigen (B, C, and E) gave more robust responses than the one with two contiguous disaccharides (D), and vaccine E with a TF antigen attached to threonine at the 10th position of the peptide was selected for IgG over IgM suggesting isotype switching. The data suggested that this platform may be a viable delivery system for tumor-associated glycopeptide antigens.

Acoustics of clear speech: effect of instruction.

PURPOSE: This study investigated how different instructions for eliciting clear speech affected selected acoustic measures of speech. METHOD: Twelve speakers were audio-recorded reading 18 different sentences from the Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech ( Yorkston & Beukelman, 1984). Sentences were produced in habitual, clear, hearing impaired, and overenunciate conditions. A variety of acoustic measures were obtained. RESULTS: Relative to habitual, the clear, hearing impaired, and overenunciate conditions were associated with different magnitudes of acoustic change for measures of vowel production, speech timing, and vocal intensity. The overenunciate condition tended to yield the greatest magnitude of change in vowel spectral measures and speech timing, followed by the hearing impaired and clear conditions. SPL tended to be the greatest in the hearing impaired condition for half of the speakers studied. CONCLUSIONS: Different instructions for eliciting clear speech yielded acoustic adjustments of varying magnitude. Results have implications for direct comparison of studies using different instructions for eliciting clear speech. Results also have implications for optimizing clear speech training programs.

Biological effects and clinical significance of lenalidomide-induced tumour flare reaction in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: in vivo evidence of immune activation and antitumour response.

Lenalidomide has demonstrated impressive antileukaemic effects in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). The mechanism(s) by which it mediates these effects remain unclear. Clinically, CLL patients treated with lenalidomide demonstrate an acute inflammatory reaction, the tumour flare reaction that is suggestive of an immune activation phenomenon. Samples from CLL patients treated with lenalidomide were used to evaluate its effect on the tumour cell and components of its microenvironment (immune cellular and cytokine). Lenalidomide was unable to directly induce apoptosis in CLL cells in vitro, however it modulated costimulatory (CD80, CD83, CD86) surface molecules on CLL cells in vitro and in vivo. Concurrently, we demonstrated that NK cell proliferation was induced by lenalidomide treatment in patients and correlated with clinical response. Cytokine analysis showed increase in levels of TNF-α post-lenalidomide treatment, consistent with acute inflammatory reaction. Furthermore, the basal cytokine profile (high IL-8, MIG, IP-10 and IL-4 levels and low IL-5, MIP1a, MIP1b, IL12/p70) was predictive of clinical response to lenalidomide. Collectively, our correlative studies provide further evidence that the antileukaemic effect of lenalidomide in CLL is mediated not only through modulation of the leukaemic clone but also through elements of the tumour microenvironment.

Speech and pause characteristics associated with voluntary rate reduction in Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis.

UNLABELLED: The primary purpose of this study was to investigate how speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) accomplish voluntary reductions in speech rate. A group of talkers with no history of neurological disease was included for comparison. This study was motivated by the idea that knowledge of how speakers with dysarthria voluntarily accomplish a reduced speech rate would contribute toward a descriptive model of speaking rate change in dysarthria. Such a model has the potential to assist in identifying rate control strategies to receive focus in clinical treatment programs and also would advance understanding of global speech timing in dysarthria. All speakers read a passage in Habitual and Slow conditions. Speech rate, articulation rate, pause duration, and pause frequency were measured. All speaker groups adjusted articulation time as well as pause time to reduce overall speech rate. Group differences in how voluntary rate reduction was accomplished were primarily one of quantity or degree. Overall, a slower-than-normal rate was associated with a reduced articulation rate, shorter speech runs that included fewer syllables, and longer more frequent pauses. Taken together, these results suggest that existing skills or strategies used by patients should be emphasized in dysarthria training programs focusing on rate reduction. Results further suggest that a model of voluntary speech rate reduction based on neurologically normal speech shows promise as being applicable for mild to moderate dysarthria. LEARNING OUTCOMES: The reader will be able to: (1) describe the importance of studying voluntary adjustments in speech rate in dysarthria, (2) discuss how speakers with Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis adjust articulation time and pause time to slow speech rate.

Effects of speaking task on intelligibility in Parkinson's disease.

Intelligibility tests for dysarthria typically provide an estimate of overall severity for speech materials elicited through imitation or read from a printed script. The extent to which these types of tasks and procedures reflect intelligibility for extemporaneous speech is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to compare intelligibility estimates obtained for a reading passage and an extemporaneous monologue produced by 12 speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD). The relationship between structural characteristics of utterances and scaled intelligibility was explored within speakers. Speakers were audio-recorded while reading a paragraph and producing a monologue. Speech samples were separated into individual utterances for presentation to 70 listeners who judged intelligibility using orthographic transcription and direct magnitude estimation (DME). Results suggest that scaled estimates of intelligibility for reading show potential for indexing intelligibility of an extemporaneous monologue. Within-speaker variation in scaled intelligibility also was related to the number of words per speech run for extemporaneous speech.

The impact of rate reduction and increased loudness on fundamental frequency characteristics in dysarthria.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the extent to which articulatory rate reduction and increased loudness were associated with adjustments in utterance-level measures of fundamental frequency (F(0)) variability for speakers with dysarthria and healthy controls that have been shown to impact on intelligibility in previously published studies. More generally, the current study sought to compare and contrast how a slower-than-normal rate and increased vocal loudness impact on a variety of utterance-level F(0) characteristics for speakers with dysarthria and healthy controls. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eleven speakers with Parkinson's disease, 15 speakers with multiple sclerosis, and 14 healthy control speakers were audio recorded while reading a passage in habitual, loud, and slow conditions. Magnitude production was used to elicit variations in rate and loudness. Acoustic measures of duration, intensity and F(0) were obtained. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: For all speaker groups, a slower-than-normal articulatory rate and increased vocal loudness had distinct effects on F(0) relative to the habitual condition, including a tendency for measures of F(0) variation to be greater in the loud condition and reduced in the slow condition. These results suggest implications for the treatment of dysarthria.

Lymphadenectomy at the time of robot-assisted radical cystectomy: results from the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence of, and predictors for, lymphadenectomy in patients undergoing robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) for bladder cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Utilizing the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium (IRCC) database, 527 patients were identified who underwent RARC at 15 institutions from 2003 to 2009. After stratification by age group, sex, pathological T stage, nodal status, sequential case number, institutional volume and surgeon volume, logistic regression was used to correlate variables to the likelihood of undergoing lymphadenectomy (defined as ≥ 10 nodes removed). RESULTS: Of the 527 patients, 437 (82.9%) underwent lymphadenectomy. A mean of 17.8 (range 0-68) lymph nodes were examined. Tumour stage, sequential case number, institution volume and surgeon volume were significantly associated with the likelihood of undergoing lymphadenectomy. Surgeon volume was most significantly associated with lymphadenectomy on multivariate analysis. High-volume surgeons (> 20 cases) were almost three times more likely to perform lymphadenectomy than lower-volume surgeons, all other variables being constant [odds ratio (OR) = 2.37; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.39-4.05; P = 0.002]. CONCLUSION: The rates of lymphadenectomy at RARC for advanced bladder cancer are similar to those of open cystectomy series using a large, multi-institutional cohort. There does, however, appear to be a learning curve associated with the performance of lymphadenectomy at RARC.

Does previous robot-assisted radical prostatectomy experience affect outcomes at robot-assisted radical cystectomy? Results from the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of previous robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) case volume on the outcomes of robot-assisted radical cystectomy. Little is known regarding the effect of previous robotic surgical experience on the implementation and execution of robot-assisted radical cystectomy. METHODS: Using the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium database, 496 patients were identified who had undergone robot-assisted radical cystectomy by 21 surgeons at 14 institutions from 2003 to 2009. The surgeons were divided into 4 groups according to their previous RARP experience (≤ 50, 51-100, 101-150, and > 150 cases). The overall operative time, blood loss, lymph node yield, pathologic stage, and surgical margin status were compared among the 4 groups using chi-square analysis. RESULTS: The mean operative time was 386 minutes (range 178-827). The mean estimated blood loss was 408 mL (range 25-3500). The operative time and blood loss were both significantly associated with previous RARP experience (P < .001). The mean lymph node count was 17.8 nodes (range 0-68). Lymph node yield and increased pathologic stage were significantly associated with previous RARP experience (P < .001). Finally, 34 (7.0%) of the 482 patients had a positive surgical margin. Margin status was not significantly associated with previous RARP experience (P = .089). CONCLUSIONS: Previous RARP case volume might affect the operative time, blood loss, and lymph node yield at robot-assisted radical cystectomy. In addition, surgeons with increased RARP experience operated on patients with more advanced tumors. Previous RARP experience, however, did not appear to affect the surgical margin status.

Surgical margin status after robot assisted radical cystectomy: results from the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium.

PURPOSE: Positive surgical margins at radical cystectomy confer a poor prognosis. We evaluated the incidence and predictors of positive surgical margins in patients who underwent robot assisted radical cystectomy for bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium database we identified 513 patients who underwent robot assisted radical cystectomy, as done by a total of 22 surgeons at 15 institutions from 2003 to 2009. After stratification by age group, gender, pathological T stage, nodal status, sequential case number and institutional volume logistic regression was used to correlate variables with the likelihood of a positive surgical margin. RESULTS: Of the 513 patients 35 (6.8%) had a positive surgical margin. Increasing 10-year age group, lymph node positivity and higher pathological T stage were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of a positive margin (p = 0.010, <0.001 and p <0.001, respectively). Gender, sequential case number and institutional volume were not significantly associated with margin positivity. The rate of margin positive disease at cystectomy was 1.5% for pT2 or less, 8.8% for pT3 and 39% for pT4 disease. CONCLUSIONS: Positive surgical margin rates at robot assisted radical cystectomy for advanced bladder cancer were similar to those in open cystectomy series in a large, multi-institutional, prospective cohort. Sequential case number, a surrogate for the learning curve and institutional volume were not significantly associated with positive margins at robot assisted radical cystectomy.

The learning curve of robot-assisted radical cystectomy: results from the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium.

BACKGROUND: Robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) has evolved as a minimally invasive alternative to open radical cystectomy for patients with invasive bladder cancer. OBJECTIVE: We sought to define the learning curve for RARC by evaluating results from a multicenter, contemporary, consecutive series of patients who underwent this procedure. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Utilizing the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium database, a prospectively maintained and institutional review board-approved database, we identified 496 patients who underwent RARC by 21 surgeons at 14 institutions from 2003 to 2009. MEASUREMENTS: Cut-off points for operative time, lymph node yield (LNY), estimated blood loss (EBL), and margin positivity were identified. Using specifically designed statistical mixed models, we were able to inversely predict the number of patients required for an institution to reach the predetermined cut-off points. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Mean operative time was 386 min, mean EBL was 408 ml, and mean LNY was 18. Overall, 34 of 482 patients (7%) had a positive surgical margin (PSM). Using statistical models, it was estimated that 21 patients were required for operative time to reach 6.5h and 8, 20, and 30 patients were required to reach an LNY of 12, 16, and 20, respectively. For all patients, PSM rates of <5% were achieved after 30 patients. For patients with pathologic stage higher than T2, PSM rates of <15% were achieved after 24 patients. CONCLUSIONS: RARC is a challenging procedure but is a technique that is reproducible throughout multiple centers. This report helps to define the learning curve for RARC and demonstrates an acceptable level of proficiency by the 30th case for proxy measures of RARC quality.

Long-Term Average Spectral (LTAS) Measures of Dysarthria and Their Relationship to Perceived Severity.

This study investigated the relationship between measures of Long-Term Average Spectrum (LTAS) for speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and scaled estimates of perceived speech severity. Perceived severity was operationally defined as listeners' overall impression of voice, resonance, articulatory precision, and prosody without regard to intelligibility. Healthy control talkers were also studied. Speakers were audio recorded while reading Harvard Sentences and the Grandfather Passage. Using TF32 (Milenkovic, 2005), the LTAS was computed for sentences. Coefficients of the first four moments were used to characterize energy across the speech spectrum. Supplemental acoustic measures of articulatory rate, vocal intensity, and fundamental frequency also were obtained. Three speech-language pathologists scaled speech severity for the reading passages. Results indicated no group differences in acoustic measures. The absolute magnitude of correlations between LTAS moment coefficients and perceptual estimates of scaled severity within and across speaker groups ranged from .16 to .53, with the strongest correlations for the PD group. These results suggest that the LTAS may prove useful in conjunction with perceptual judgments to document speech spectral changes related to treatment or disease progression. Findings further suggest that different acoustic models of severity are likely needed for dysarthria secondary to PD and dysarthria secondary to MS.

Induction therapy of loco-regional non-small-cell lung cancer with reliable response and low toxicity (low dose radiotherapy sensitizes tumor to subsequent chemotherapy?).

INTRODUCTION: For the induction therapy of non-small-cell lung cancer, we need to look for a regimen which produces a reliable high response rate with a low treatment related morbidity and mortality. METHODS: Patients in clinical stages IB, IIA and B, IIIA and B received a course of therapy with 20Gy of radiation in 2 weeks. This was followed by two courses of chemotherapy consisting of paclitaxel 180mg/m(2), cisplatin 45mg/m(2), and ifosfamide 1000mg/m(2). Two to 3 weeks after chemotherapy, the patients were re-evaluated and, if suitable, underwent surgical therapy. RESULTS: A total of 35 patients were entered into the study. The overall response rate was 82.86% (95% confidence interval, 66.35-94.5%). Complete response (CR) was 20% (95% confidence interval, 8.44-36.94%). Twenty-five patients had surgical resection. Subsequently 18 patients received completion radiotherapy of additional 45Gy. The median follow up is 30 months. In 12 patients with stages IB, IIA and B, the median survival was 61 months, and 5-year survival was 55%. In 23 patients with stages IIIA and B, the median survival was 26 months, and 5-year survival was 9.5%. There was 1 patient with Grade 4 and 13 patients with Grade 3 leukopenia, and half of them received granulocyte colony stimulating factor. By the completion radiotherapy, 6 out of 18 patients had less than Grade 2 esophagitis. Five patients had Grade 2 radiation pneumonitis and one Grade 5 (one mortality). There was no postoperative death. The survival results were comparable to those reported recently by others, however the regimen produced a high response rate with low treatment related morbidity/mortality. CONCLUSION: It is a suitable regimen for induction therapy to include earlier stage resectable non-small-cell lung cancers.

Effects of multidisciplinary Internet-based program on management of heart failure.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and test the effectiveness of an Internet-based self management program by multidisciplinary health care professionals for patients with heart failure (HF). METHODS: The comprehensive educational material for HF was created and posted on a website. A computer with Internet connection and computer training were provided first. A secure and simple web-based recording system of vital signs and health behaviors and a mechanism for feedback regarding each participant's record were developed. A randomized controlled trial with a one-year intervention was conducted using a total of 40 patients who were assessed three times in their homes. An intention-to-treat analysis used multivariate statistics. RESULTS: The treatment group had a high (85%) adherence to the intervention. Only the treatment group showed a significant improvement in the knowledge level (p < 0.001), amount of exercise (p = 0.001), and quality of life (p = 0.001), and reduction in HF related symptoms (dyspnea, p = 0.001; fatigue, p = 0.003; functional emotion, p < 0.001), blood pressure (systolic, p = 0.002; diastolic, p < 0.001), frequency of emergency room visit, and length of hospital stay (both p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: An effective program to change one's behaviors in managing HF takes a multidisciplinary approach to create and provide feedback regarding a patient's daily record, which can be accomplished through Internet use.

Care of elderly patients with chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: Providing optimal care to the growing number of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients remains a significant problem in the United States. There is little known about the care of elderly CKD patients by primary care physicians as well as nephrologists. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 377 elderly male CKD (serum creatinine >1.4 mg/dl on 2 separate occasions 3 months apart) patients referred to the Nephrology Clinic at the Buffalo Veterans Administration Medical Center between 1999 and 2002 to see if the pattern of care changed during this time. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 75.9 years. Eighty-four percent were Caucasian, 15% were African-American, and 1% were of other race. Etiology of CKD included hypertensive nephrosclerosis (49%), diabetic nephropathy (23%), renovascular disease (18%), and others (10%). Sixty-five percent of patients had estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >30 ml/min. Overall angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) was used in 51% of patients with CKD, and in 63% of patients with diabetic nephropathy. Twenty percent of patients had a hemoglobin <11 g/dl, darbepoietin/epogen was used in 31% of these patients. Screening for kidney related tests were done infrequently while lipid profile and hemoglobin A1C were done in the majority of patients because of clinical reminders in the VA computerized patient record system (CPRS). CONCLUSION: These results emphasize the need for increased education of primary care physicians and nephrologists to improve the care of elderly CKD patients. Although there was a trend towards earlier referral, care did not change significantly between years 1999 and 2002.