Living with chronic hepatitis C means 'you just haven't got a normal life any more'.

OBJECTIVE: To explore psychosocial factors that impact on quality of life for people living with self-reported chronic hepatitis C. METHODS: A purposeful sample of 70 people who were self-identified as being hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive was recruited through a variety of institutions and community agencies. Semi-structured interviews were held with 12 groups and 21 individuals. A qualitative grounded-theory methodology was used for data collection and analysis. Experiences of physical and psychological symptoms, stigma and discrimination, and living with an infectious disease, were explored using matrices. RESULTS: Phenomena emerging from the data included previously undocumented illness 'attacks' that were associated with depressive symptoms and a perception of hepatitis C as fatal. Uncertainty related to disease progression and transmission of the virus were common experiences among participants. A universal experience was fear and anxiety about stigma and discrimination. DISCUSSION: The findings of this study indicate that chronic hepatitis C has a pervasive impact on quality of life with a complexity that has not been explored with quantitative research approaches. Primary healthcare professionals need to be alert to the psychological and social impacts of chronic hepatitis C and to avoid behaviours that lead to perceptions of stigma and discrimination. The research indicates a need for further investigation into the relationship between psychosocial factors, disease management and disease progression.

Family history of end-stage renal disease does not predict dialytic survival.

Familial aggregation of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is frequently observed in the common causes of kidney failure. It is unknown whether the clinical course of nephropathy differs based on an individual's family history of ESRD. The ESRD Network 6 Family History of ESRD database was analyzed to compare dialytic survival among patients with first- or second-degree relatives on dialysis therapy (positive family history) with those lacking relatives with ESRD (negative family history). Study participants included 3,442 adult, black or white, incident patients with ESRD who initiated dialysis therapy in ESRD Network 6 facilities in 1995 and participated in the Network-sponsored Family History of ESRD study. All deaths were reported to the Network and used to calculate mortality rates. The relative risk for death was used to compare rates between levels of patient characteristics. Multivariate analyses used proportional hazards regression. Overall, 730 patients (21.2%) had a positive family history of ESRD. Black patients, those who were younger at the onset of ESRD, patients with greater degrees of functional status, and women were more likely to have a positive family history. During 9,000 patient-years of follow-up, 1,599 patients died (17.8 deaths/100 dialysis-years). Univariate analyses showed that patients with a positive family history of ESRD had 20% lower mortality than those with a negative family history of ESRD (relative risk, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.7 to 0.9; P = 0.001). Older age, white race, diabetic nephropathy, lower functional status, lower serum albumin level, congestive heart failure, and ischemic heart disease also were associated with greater mortality rates. Multivariate analyses showed that only older age at onset of ESRD, white race, low functional status, ESRD caused by diabetes, and congestive heart failure were associated with increased mortality. A family history of ESRD in either first- or second-degree relatives was no longer a significant determinant of survival. We conclude that familial clustering of ESRD does not significantly impact on dialytic survival after controlling for the competing effects of patient race, age of ESRD onset, and the presence of diabetes mellitus.

Capreomycin kinetics in renal impairment and clearance by hemodialysis.

The single-dose kinetics of capreomycin are described for 12 renal patients and seven healthy control subjects. Creatinine clearances (CrCl) ranged from zero to 121 ml/min. After single-dose intravenous infusions, mean +/- SD capreomycin clearance values (L/kg/h x 10(-2)) were 0.558 +/- 0.160 for the dialysis group (n = 4, CrCl = 1.4 +/- 1.9), 1.77 +/- 0.45 for the moderate renal group (n = 3, CrCl = 25 +/- 5), 2.82 +/- 1.52 for the mild renal group (n = 4, CrCl = 46 +/- 5), and 5.73 +/- 1.54 for the normal renal group (n = 7, CrCl = 109 +/- 11); p less than 0.01, using analysis of variance. The correlation between capreomycin clearance and CrCl was r = 0.90. Hemodialysis cleared clinically significant amounts of capreomycin. These data imply that capreomycin maintenance doses need to be reduced for renal patients.

Non-A, non-B hepatitis and chronic dialysis--another dilemma.

To define the incidence of non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis and evaluate possible risk factors, we reviewed records of 163 patients on chronic dialysis during a 3-year period. 23 cases of NANB hepatitis occurred, 13 (27%) in 49 center dialysis, 8 (10%) in 77 home hemodialysis (p less than 0.02) and 2 (5%) in 37 peritoneal dialysis patients (p less than 0.01). Hepatitis patients received significantly more transfusions than controls. Numbers of transfusions and of patients transfused were not significantly different in center patients compared to home and peritoneal. 8 NANB patients received no transfusions. NANB was the most common cause of hepatitis in our unit (68%). Although transfusions were a likely etiologic factor, to explain the increased risk in center dialysis patients, disease in patients not transfused and development of NANB hepatitis without a known parenteral exposure in a physician assigned to the Nephrology Service, we feel another etiologic factor was important, the dialysis center.

Conversion of manual to total computerized medical records. Experience with selected abstraction.

The use of computerized medical records for complex medical patients will depend upon the transfer of previous medical data from the manual record into the automated version. The complexity of these patients precludes the complete transfer of medical data into the automated record because of time requirements. This paper describes a method of transfer of medical data from the manual record to the computerized record that is efficient, accurate, and useful.

Fixed and reproducible orthostatic proteinuria: results of a 20-year follow-up study.

A 20-year follow-up evaluation of young men with fixed and reproducible orthostatic proteinuria showed no evidence of progressive renal disease. Follow-up information was obtained on 43 of the original 64 patients and detailed information was secured on 36. All had normal renal function and only six patients continued to show qualitative proteinuria. The prevalence of hypertension found was similar to that of a comparably aged group of the general population. The 20-year prognosis of patients with fixed and reproducible orthostatic proteinuria is excellent.