Improving dialysis through design
Washington University in St. LouisFaculty from the McKelvey School of Engineering and the School of Medicine teamed up to design better grafts for dialysis patients.
Faculty from the McKelvey School of Engineering and the School of Medicine teamed up to design better grafts for dialysis patients.
• The virus that causes COVID-19 can infect and replicate in human kidney cells, but this does not typically lead to cell death. • Kidney cells that already have features of injury may be more easily infected and develop additional injury.
• A large majority of patients with kidney failure on dialysis—but not kidney transplant recipients—developed antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 after COVID-19 vaccination. • Vaccination also led to strong T cell responses against the virus that causes COVID-19 in all patients on dialysis, and in nearly 58% of kidney transplant recipients.
• Patients with kidney failure who are undergoing dialysis—whether at dialysis clinics or at home—face a higher risk of developing COVID-19 and a higher risk of dying from the disease.
New collaborative research shows that treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has led to a significant improvement in survival and response rates among patients with a particularly aggressive type of kidney cancer: advanced sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma. The study, which was led by a team from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and involved contributors from six centers, is detailed in a presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2021 virtual annual meeting (abstract 4568).
By sequencing the RNA of individual cells within multiple benign and cancerous kidney tumors, researchers from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have identified the cells from which different subtypes originate, the pathways involved and how the tumor microenvironment impacts cancer development and response to treatment.
• Among adults with kidney failure undergoing hemodialysis in New York City, Black and Hispanic patients were more likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19 than White patients. • Neighborhood-level social vulnerability factors were associated with COVID-19 incidence among White patients, but these factors did not explain racial/ethnic disparities.
Treatment with an immunotherapy drug following kidney cancer surgery, prolonged disease-free survival rates in patients at high risk for recurrence, according to an interim report of a phase 3 clinical trial of adjuvant immunotherapy in this patient population.
Cardiologists at Henry Ford Hospital are first in the U.S. and second in the world to implant a circulatory support device that is being investigated in a clinical trial for patients hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and worsening kidney function, a condition known as cardiorenal syndrome.
• Among individuals with kidney failure who received dialysis at clinics several times each week, COVID-19 risks were higher in patients who were older, had diabetes, lived in local communities with higher COVID-19 rates, and received dialysis at clinics that served a larger number of patients. • Risks were lower in patients who received dialysis in clinics with a higher number of available side rooms and that had mask policies for asymptomatic patients.
• Among individuals with healthy kidneys, those with more frequent depressive symptoms were more likely to show signs of rapid kidney function decline over a median follow-up of 4 years.
Mount Sinai researchers create a machine learning model to determine COVID-19 patients most at risk for treatment requiring dialysis or critical illness leading to death.
• Among patients receiving dialysis in the Southeastern United States, those at for-profit dialysis facilities were less likely to be referred for kidney transplantation than those at non-profit facilities. • Rates of starting medical evaluations soon after referral and placing patients on a waitlist after evaluations were similar between the groups.
Renalytix AI plc, Atrium Health, Wake Forest Baptist Health and Wake Forest School of Medicine announced a partnership to implement an advanced clinical care model designed to improve kidney health and reduce kidney disease progression and kidney failure in high-risk populations.
Last month, Lara Holmes celebrated two birthdays—her normal birthday, and the first birthday since she received the gift of a lifetime: a new pancreas and kidney.
Researchers at The Mehandru Center for Innovation in Nephrology at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center and other authors recently had their new case report article “Metabolic Acidosis, Hyperkalemia, and Renal Unresponsiveness to Aldosterone Syndrome: Response to Treatment with Low-Potassium Diet,” published.
• Clinical equations that estimate individuals’ kidney function include an adjustment for Black race. This study examined the impact of dropping this race adjustment on patient care. • The estimated prevalence of chronic kidney disease among Black adults would double if race adjustments were eliminated. • Eliminating race adjustments could lead to major changes in medication prescribing for Black patients, but it would not negatively affect the accuracy of kidney failure predictions.
A loving & doting daughter saves the live of her mother in desperate need of a kidney transplant as well as the life of a Minnesota woman.
Chronic kidney disease is when a person’s kidneys progressively lose their ability to filter waste from the blood and eliminate fluids. Now a new study has found that people with reduced kidney function may have an increased risk of developing dementia. The study is published in the May 5, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Mother's Day, our annual reminder to honor amazing moms everywhere, is next Sunday, May 9. Cedars-Sinai invites you to learn more about two mothers who went to heroic lengths to deliver their children, and another mother who is inspired by her heroic daughter.
University of South Australia researchers have identified an enzyme that may help to curb chronic kidney disease, which affects approximately 700 million people worldwide.
Highlights • Twenty percent of patients undergoing dialysis who responded to a survey were hesitant to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. • Vaccine acceptability was lower among younger age groups, women, and among individuals who were Black, and Native American and Pacific Islander.
• A pharmacist-led smartphone health app helped prevent medication errors, medication-related side effects, and hospitalizations in a study of kidney transplant recipients.
New research conducted in rats suggests a compound that gives some cruciferous vegetables their pungent taste could help to reverse kidney problems associated with diabetes.
Exposure to extreme heat (95 degrees Fahrenheit and above) and humidity for eight hours raises the core body temperature and causes dehydration, resulting in an increased risk of acute kidney injury, according to a new study.
David Goldberg, M.D., M.S.C.E., associate professor of medicine in the Division of Digestive Health and Liver Diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is one of three principal investigators of a five-year, $7.8 million National Institutes of Health-funded study using donor kidneys infected with hepatitis C (HCV) in patients awaiting kidney transplants who do not have HCV.
n many ways 19-year-old, Brenna Kahlen is a typical teenager. She is living at home in Newport Beach, working and going to college. But unlike most of her peers, Brenna is a now a medical first.
Embargoed press materials are now available for the virtual Experimental Biology (EB) 2021 meeting, featuring cutting-edge multidisciplinary research from across the life sciences. EB 2021, to be held April 27–30, is the annual meeting of five scientific societies bringing together thousands of scientists and 25 guest societies in one interdisciplinary community.
Adults with kidney failure are employed for fewer years during their lifetime than others in the general population. This “lower lifetime employment duration” was mainly due to their loss of life expectancy.
Though researchers have long known that several physiological and anatomical changes occur during pregnancy that can contribute to kidney stone formation, evidence of the link has been lacking. But now Mayo Clinic researchers believe they have that evidence.
High expression levels of the gene TRIM63 can serve as an accurate and sensitive biomarker of a subtype of kidney cancer known as microphthalmia-associated transcription factor family aberration-associated renal cell carcinomas — or MiTF renal cell carcinoma. It’s important to distinguish MiTF from other subtypes of kidney cancers — clear cell, papillary and chromophobe — because these tumors may not respond well to standard, front-line treatments and may respond better to other approaches.
• More than 37 million Americans live with kidney diseases. • 800,000 Americans have kidney failure, a condition for which there is no cure. • Kidney diseases disproportionately affect communities of color. • COVID-19, especially deadly for people with kidney diseases, has highlighted the urgent need for change
A chemical modification of RNA that can be influenced by diet appears to play a key role in polycystic kidney disease, an inherited disorder that is the fourth leading cause of kidney failure in the U.S., UT Southwestern researchers report in a new study. The findings, published online today in Cell Metabolism, suggest new ways to treat this incurable condition.
• Among patients undergoing dialysis, the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked between March 22 and April 25, and it was 40-times higher than the rate in the general population. • Compared before the COVID-19 pandemic, the risks of dying from any cause were 17% and 30% higher during the second quarter of 2020 among patients receiving dialysis and patients with kidney transplants, respectively. • COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates both exhibited racial disparities.
• Most patients with kidney failure who were undergoing hemodialysis developed a positive antibody response after being vaccinated for COVID-19, but their response was lower than that of individuals without kidney disease.
Today, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) announced seven winners in Round 2 of the KidneyX COVID-19 Kidney Care Challenge. From December to January, healthcare providers, dialysis centers, nonprofit health systems, and other entrants submitted solutions that could reduce the transmission of coronavirus among people with kidney disease and/or reduce the risk of kidney damage among people who contract the virus.
• A newly developed tool assesses patients' home dialysis experience. • The 26-item Home Dialysis Care Experience instrument will be a resource for future research use, clinical care, and quality improvement initiatives among home dialysis facilities and organizations.
DALLAS – March 30, 2021 – UT Southwestern researchers have identified factors that put patients with childhood-onset lupus at elevated risk for poor outcomes, such as end-stage renal disease or death, as they transition from pediatric to adult health care. The findings, published online in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, emphasize the precarious nature of this period and shine a spotlight on areas prime for intervention to help protect these vulnerable patients.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurred in nearly 20 percent of patients who underwent surgery with implantation of antibiotic-loaded “spacers” and intravenous (IV) antibiotics for the treatment of deep infections after total knee arthroplasty, reports a study in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.
• An analysis of published clinical trials suggests that aerobic exercise lessens several hemodialysis-related symptoms, including restless leg syndrome, symptoms of depression, muscle cramping, and fatigue. • More research, with more diverse patients, is needed to determine the extent of benefits from aerobic exercise for individuals with kidney failure who are undergoing dialysis.
Research published in the AACR journal Cancer Discovery found that a protein named chemerin is present in higher quantities in the blood of obese individuals and plays an essential role in controlling fat metabolism in kidney cancer cells.
Only 3% of patients at high risk for primary aldosteronism (PA), a common disorder that causes high blood pressure and can lead to heart and kidney complications, are screened for the condition, according to a study that will be presented virtually at ENDO 2021, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting.
• A one-year trial found that the eKidneyCare smartphone app helped patients with chronic kidney disease take their prescribed medications properly. • The app may help to prevent adverse drug reactions and other medication errors that can endanger patients.
A disruption to organ rhythms caused by shift work is a key factor in injury-induced disease development, according to a new research article published in the America Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology.
The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine is investigating how cats with chronic kidney disease could someday help inform treatment for humans.
Jessica Davey underwent robotic surgery to treat symptoms that began on St. Patrick’s Day 2019