Barriers to Kidney Transplantation among Adults on Maintenance Dialysis in Western Region Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Kidney transplantation (KT) is the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage renal disease. However, in Saudi Arabia, KT accounts for only 4.5% of the total existing renal replacement therapies in 2016. This cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2017 to January 2018. The aim was to assess the main barriers to the low KT rate in the Saudi community. Data were obtained by direct interviewing using a specifically pre-coded and pre-tested online questionnaire. A total of 321 adult hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis (PD) (hemodialysis and PD, respectively) patients eligible for KT were selected from several dialysis units in Jeddah, accounting for 11% of the total dialysis population in Jeddah. The mean age was 49.9 ± 14.9 years, and 62.1% were male. Twenty-six percent were employed, and 88.2% were Saudis. Of those interviewed, 90.7% had been counseled for KT mostly by the nephrologist (86.5%) and 178 (55.5%) were referred for pre-transplant evaluation and 92 (28.6 %) were on the active transplant list. The most common barriers were lack of donor availability for 107 patients (40.5%), 58 patients (22%) worried about long-term complications, and 24 (9.1%) worried about surgical complications. Only 17 patients (6.4 %) reported financial constraints as the main reason for not having a KT, especially in non-Saudi patients. Additional initiatives to promote and improve the education and knowledge about kidney donation and the current outcome of KT is needed to improve the transplant rate in the country.

The Pattern of Allopurinol Prescription Among Chronic Kidney Disease Patients in a Tertiary Care Centre: A Single-Centre Experience.

CONTEXT: Hyperuricemia is prevalent in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although it is associated with CKD incidence and progression, treating asymptomatic hyperuricemia with uric acid-lowering agents is still debatable. AIM OF WORK: determine the rate of non-classical prescription of allopurinol in CKD patients. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a retrospective study of adult patients prescribed allopurinol with CKD (stages 2-5) in Doctor Soliman Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from 1/1/2016 to 1/1/2017. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Eligible patients were identified from the hospital's pharmacy system and cross-referenced with the electronic health records. Demographic data, laboratory results and indication as recorded by the prescribing physician were extracted. Prescriptions with no indication were categorized based on the uric acid levels. Hyperuricemia was documented as mild (6-10 mg/dL in females and 7-13 mg/dL in males) and severe (>13mg/dL in men and >10mg/dL in women). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages). RESULTS: From the 594 identified patients, 464 (78.1%) were males. A third of prescriptions (209/594) had no indication, 43.5% of which (91/209) had no documented uric acid levels, and 16.3% (34/209) had normal levels. Including patients with undocumented indication, 64.2% (381/594) were prescribed allopurinol for hyperuricemia, 86.4% of which (329/381) had mild hyperuricemia, and only 13.6% (52/381) had severe hyperuricemia. Other indications included malignancy-related disorders (6.2%, 37/594), gouty arthritis (5.2%, 31/594), and stones of unknown aetiology (3.4%, 20/594). CONCLUSION: The percentage of allopurinol prescription to patients with CKD without a clear indication in our centre was markedly high. This might increase the risk for side effects with no evidence-based benefits.

Allopurinol prescription patterns among patients in a Saudi tertiary care centre.

OBJECTIVE: Physicians frequently prescribe allopurinol for uric acid deposition disorders. However, reports have emerged of the inappropriate use and overprescription of allopurinol. We conducted this study to determine the rate of inappropriate prescription of allopurinol in a Saudi institution. METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on all adult patients who had been prescribed allopurinol in Doctor Soliman Fakeeh Hospital Jeddah KSA. Demographic data and laboratory results were retrieved from patients' electronic health records (EHR). We considered valid indications of allopurinol as significant hyperuricemia (>13 mg/dL in men and >10 mg/dL in women), confirmed gout, hyperuricosuria of more than 1100 mg/day, uric acid stones or recurrent calcium oxalate kidney stones, malignancy, and haemolysis. The possible valid indications were unconfirmed gout and unconfirmed type of kidney stones, whereas no documented indication or insignificant hyperuricemia was considered as an invalid indication. RESULTS: We included 1978 patients in this study. The cohort was composed of 76.4% men and 23.6% women. The mean ± standard deviation of age of this patient cohort was 53 and 4 months ± 15 years. The mean ± standard deviation of duration since the first prescription was 1.53 ± 2.2 years. Physicians prescribed allopurinol without a valid indication in 1539 patients (77.8%). More than a third of the patients (39%) did not have a documented indication and 38.8% were prescribed allopurinol for insignificant hyperuricemia. CONCLUSION: This study revealed a markedly high number of allopurinol prescriptions without a clear indication in our centre. This approach may potentially expose patients to serious side effects of allopurinol without added benefits.

Rituximab Can Induce Remission in a Patient with Ankylosing Spondylitis Who Failed Anti-TNF-α Agent.

BACKGROUND Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease that predominantly affects the axial skeleton. The ability of anti-TNF-α agents to reduce disease activity in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), including AS, has been demonstrated in multiple randomized trials and several meta-analyses. Reports on the efficacy of rituximab in treatment of AS have described good results. We report on a patient with AS who failed anti-TNF-α therapy but showed good clinical improvement with rituximab therapy. CASE REPORT A 38-year-old male patient was diagnosed with AS and showed poor response to sulfasalazine and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Infliximab was initiated with marked improvement as per the Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI). Due to disease flare, the patient was switched to etanercept. He subsequently acquired papillary thyroid cancer and etanercept was discontinued. He underwent a total thyroidectomy followed by radioiodine therapy. For his ongoing active disease, NSAIDs and sulfasalazine were resumed with a lack of response (BASDAI=7.1). Rituximab was started and resulted in significant improvement (BASDAI=2.3). CONCLUSIONS Rituximab can be a potential target therapy for patients who start to lose response to TNF-inhibitors or for those who develop solid malignancies. Further placebo-controlled studies are required.