RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Hypervolemia is a major risk factor for hypertension leading to cardiovascular diseases and also a frequent problem in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Fluid overload (FO) can be determined by bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) which is a new, practical, and non-invasive method. We tried to determine FO by BIS in MHD patients and find out the relationship between FO and clinical features. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied 100 MHD patients aged between 20 and 85 years and undergoing hemodialysis three times weekly for minimum one year. By using BIS, we estimated FO and extracellular water (ECW). The patients who exhibited a FO/ECW ratio >15% were considered as FO. RESULTS: Twenty-nine (29.0%) patients had a FO/ECW ratio >15%. In the overhydrated group, the mean pre-hemodialysis systolic blood pressure was 153.3 ± 20.0 mmHg and the mean diastolic blood pressure was 89.1 ± 8.5 mmHg. These were significantly higher than in the non-overhydrated group (113.5 ± 14.5 and 71.0 ± 8.8, p <0.001). FO was significantly correlated with systolic and diastolic blood pressures (r =0.63, p <0.001 and r =0.59, p <0.001). The patients were divided into two groups, i.e. those with cardiothoracic index (CTI) of >0.5 and those with CTI of ≤0.5. The median FO/ECW ratio was 0.11 L in the former group and 0.08 L in the latter group with a significant difference (p =0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Hypervolemia is associated with high blood pressure and left ventricular hypertrophy that should be treated effectively to prevent cardiovascular diseases in MHD patients. BIS is useful to assess hydration status in MHD patients. Hippokratia 2015; 19 (4): 324-331.
RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive donors are not accepted by many transplant centers as a kidney source owing to risk of transmission of hepatitis B; however, some reports show that these donors can be used under a special protocol. Herein, we report our cases of kidney transplantation from HBsAg(+) donors to HbsAg(-) recipients. METHODS: In the years 2010-2012, we transplanted 4 kidneys from 4 HBsAg(+) donors to HBsAg(-) recipients. They were all living related. All antiHBs(-) recipients were vaccinated before transplantation and became HBsAg(-), anti-HB core immunoglobulin G antibody negative [antiHBcIg(-)], and antiHBs(+). Pretransplantation antiHBs titers were targeted to be >100 IU. If lower, hepatitis B Ig was used at the time of transplantation. One patient received hepatitis B Ig at the time of transplantation (owing to titer of 62 IU/L antiHBs). Lamivudine was prescribed for all kidney allograft recipients after transplantation. RESULTS: Two patients had special induction treatment including rituximab, intravenous immunoglobulin, and plasmapheresis owing to the presence of donor-specific antibody. CONCLUSIONS: All patients became antiHBcIgG(+) at 1-6 months after the transplantation, despite the presence of antiHBs positivity, which might be explained by transmission of hepatitis B virus through the graft.