Acta dermato-venereologica
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Acta Derm. Venereol. · May 2014
Comparative StudyHydroxyethyl starch-induced pruritus: clinical characteristics and influence of dose, molecular weight and substitution.
Severe persistent pruritus is a common, but incompletely characterized, complication of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) infusion. This retrospective study aimed to assess HES-induced pruritus by electron microscopic findings, pruritus characteristics, and response to stimuli, and to determine the impact of HES dosage, molecular weight and substitution. Seventy patients with electron micro-scopy-proven HES-induced pruritus were included. ⋯ Although the median cumulative dose of HES was 300 g, 15% of patients developed pruritus after only 30 g. There were no significant differences between HES 130/0.4 and HES 200/0.5 in pruritus latency, duration or severity. HES-induced pruritus thus may occur at any dose, molecular weight or substitution.
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Acta Derm. Venereol. · May 2014
Uraemic pruritus markedly affects the quality of life and depressive symptoms in haemodialysis patients with end-stage renal disease.
Little is known about the influence of uraemic pruritus on patients' wellbeing. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of uraemic pruritus on quality of life and depressive symptoms in patients with end-stage renal disease. A total of 200 haemodialysis patients were included into the study. ⋯ The quality of life impairment correlated with uraemic pruritus intensity assessed with VAS and the 4-item itch questionnaire. Depression level significantly correlated with quality of life and severity of depressive symptoms was significantly associated with uraemic pruritus intensity. Our study underscores that uraemic pruritus should be regarded as an important health problem among haemodialysis patients.