Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association
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Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. · Feb 2012
Comparative StudyGreater increase in urinary hepcidin predicts protection from acute kidney injury after cardiopulmonary bypass.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common and serious complication of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery. Hepcidin, a peptide hormone that regulates iron homeostasis, is a potential biomarker of AKI following CPB. ⋯ Urinary hepcidin and hepcidin:creatinine ratio are biomarkers of AKI after CPB, with an inverse association between its increase at 24 h and risk of AKI in the first five post-operative days. Measuring hepcidin in the urine on the first day following surgery may deliver earlier diagnosis and interventions.
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Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. · Feb 2012
Comparative StudyAcute pulmonary oedema in chronic dialysis patients admitted into an intensive care unit.
Acute pulmonary oedema (APO) in patients undergoing chronic dialysis (CD), a common cause of hospital admission in this population, is poorly documented. The objective of this study was to determine the causes, profile, clinical course and outcomes of APO in CD patients admitted in an intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ APO fuelled in part by chest infection, excessive interdialytic weight gain and inappropriate dry weight are important causes of hospitalization in CD patients. Mortality is high among those referred from other services usually in critical conditions.
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Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. · Feb 2012
Renal perfusion evaluation with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography.
Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) is a novel imaging technique that is safe and applicable on the bedside. Recent developments seem to enable CEUS to quantify organ perfusion. We performed an exploratory study to determine the ability of CEUS to detect changes in renal perfusion and to correlate them with effective renal plasma flow. ⋯ This study demonstrates that CEUS is able to detect changes in human renal cortical microcirculation as induced by AngII infusion and/or captopril administration. The changes in perfusion indices parallel those in ERPF as obtained by PAH clearance.
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Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. · Feb 2012
Comparative StudyImpact of sepsis on levels of plasma cystatin C in AKI and non-AKI patients.
Cystatin C is a marker of acute kidney injury (AKI). However, systemic inflammation associated with sepsis, a common AKI-trigger, may affect cystatin C. We studied the impact of sepsis on cystatin C levels in plasma. Furthermore, we investigated whether the presence of sepsis affects the predictive properties of cystatin C. ⋯ The inflammatory response induced by sepsis has no impact on the levels of cystatin C in plasma during the first week in the ICU.