American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation
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Case Reports
Pneumoperitoneum caused by a perforated peptic ulcer in a peritoneal dialysis patient: difficulty in diagnosis.
Peritonitis due to viscus perforation in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients can be catastrophic. We describe the first reported case of perforated peptic ulcer (PPU) in a PD patient. This 78-year-old man presented with a 1-day history of mild abdominal pain. ⋯ Free air in the abdomen, although suggestive of PPU, is also not uncommon in PD patients without viscus perforation. Because PD has to be discontinued after laparotomy and exploratory laparotomy may be fatal in high-risk patients, other diagnostic methods should be used to confirm viscus perforation before surgery. PPU, which can be proved by air inflation and contrast radiography, should be suspected in PD patients with pneumoperitoneum and peritonitis.
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A 43-year-old woman took a large amount of depakote (divalproex, a slow-release form of valproate), became comatose, and developed severe hypotension refractory to fluid resuscitation and high-dose vasopressors. The serum valproic acid (VPA) concentration on admission was 1,380 microgram/mL (therapeutic range, 50 to 100 microgram/mL). She also had metabolic acidosis, thrombocytopenia, and normal renal and liver functions. ⋯ After 6 hours of hemodialysis with a high-flux dialyzer, her serum VPA concentration decreased from 940 microgram/mL to 164 microgram/mL, coincident with improvement in clinical status. The half-life of VPA was reduced to 2.4 hours with hemodialysis, whereas it was 7.2 hours before the procedure. Hemodialysis could be a valuable therapeutic intervention in VPA toxicity.
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Case Reports
Unexpected severe hypocalcemia during continuous venovenous hemodialysis with regional citrate anticoagulation.
Citrate is known to induce acute hypocalcemia in patients undergoing liver transplantation during the anhepatic phase. We describe the case of a 71-year-old woman with fulminant hepatic failure secondary to hepatitis A, who was started on continuous venovenous hemodialysis (CVVHD) for acute renal failure. Because anticoagulation with heparin was untenable, regional anticoagulation was accomplished by trisodium citrate (46.7%) infusion. ⋯ Using this approach, the patient was successfully maintained on CVVHD with regional citrate anticoagulation for a total of 11 days without any additional complications. We conclude that CVVHD with regional citrate anticoagulation can be used in patients with acute hepatic failure if increased CaCl2 requirements are anticipated and if citrate is infused at a lower rate compatible with decreased citrate metabolism. Citrate accumulation should be suspected in patients with an elevated total to ionized Ca++ ratio during CVVHD with citrate anticoagulation.
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Comparative Study
Collapsing glomerulopathy: clinical characteristics and follow-up.
In 1986, Weiss et al reported a group of patients with nephrotic syndrome, progressive chronic renal failure, and the histopathologic features of glomerular capillary collapse. Similar lesions are often described in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) nephropathy. We evaluated 893 consecutive nontransplant renal biopsies performed in our department and the follow-up of the patients at our outpatient service. ⋯ Survival of the patients with collapsing glomerulopathy was worse than that of patients with FSGS (P = 0.025). Renal function survived 5 years in 40% of the patients with FSGS, but patients with collapsing glomerulopathy had no renal function survival. Our data suggest that idiopathic collapsing glomerulopathy is a distinct clinicopathologic entity with similar clinical features to focal sclerosing glomerulonephritis, but a worse prognosis and a rapidly progressive course toward end-stage renal disease.