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Over the past decade, the number of organ transplants performed worldwide has significantly increased for patients with advanced organ failure [...]

Abstract Background Serum chloride derangement is common in critically ill patients requiring continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). We aimed to assess the association between serum chloride levels before and during CRRT with mortality. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of critically ill patients receiving CRRT for acute kidney injury from December 2006 through November 2015 in a tertiary referral hospital in the United States. We used logistic regression to assess serum chloride before and mean serum chloride during CRRT as predictors for 90 days mortality after CRRT initiation. The normal reference range for serum chloride was 99–108 mmol/L. Results Of 1282 eligible patients, 25%, 50%, and 25% had hypochloremia, normochloremia, and hyperchloremia, respectively. The adjusted odds ratio for 90 days mortality in patients with hypochloremia before CRRT was 1.82 (95% CI 1.29–2.55). During CRRT, 4%, 70%, 26% of patients had mean serum chloride in the hypochloremia, normochloremia, and hyperchloremia range, respectively. The adjusted odds ratio for 90 days mortality in patients with mean serum chloride during CRRT in the hypochloremia range was 2.96 (95% CI 1.43–6.12). Hyperchloremia before and during CRRT was not associated with mortality. The greater serum chloride range during CRRT was associated with increased mortality (OR 1.29; 95% CI 1.13–1.47 per 5 mmol/L increase). Conclusion Hypochloremia before and during CRRT is associated with higher mortality.

Background: It is known that hypokalemia, hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia cause a prolonged QTc interval and are associated with an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias. However, there are limited data on optimal serum electrolytes for patients admitted to the coronary care unit (CCU). Objective: Here, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum potassium, ionized calcium and magnesium levels and in-hospital mortality in the CCU setting. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 8,498 consecutive patients admitted to the CCU at an academic tertiary medical center from 2004 through 2013. The mean of serum electrolytes was categorized as <3.5, 3.5-<4.0, 4.0-<4.5 (reference), 4.5-<5.0, and ≥5.0 mEq/L for potassium; <4.4, 4.4-<4.6, 4.6-<4.8, 4.8-<5.0 (reference), and ≥5.0 mg/dL for ionized calcium; and <1.8, 1.8-<2.0, 2.0-<2.2 (reference), 2.2-<2.4, and ≥2.4 mg/dL for magnesium. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between the mean of serum electrolytes and in-hospital mortality. Results: Of the 8,498 patients, 599 (7%) died during hospitalization. Relationship between mean serum potassium (U-shaped), ionized calcium (inverted J-shape) and magnesium (J-shaped) and in-hospital mortality was present in Figure. Serum potassium levels <3.5, 4.5-<5.0 and ≥5.0 mEq/L were independently associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR 1.7 95% CI 1.1-2.5, OR 1.7 95% CI 1.3-2.2, and OR 3.4 95% CI 2.4-4.8, respectively), compared to the reference group. As for serum ionized calcium, the levels of <4.4, 4.4-<4.6, and 4.6-<4.8 mg/dL independently increased risk of mortality (adjusted OR 3.0 95% CI 2.3-4.0, OR 2.0 95% CI 1.5-2.6, and OR 1.4 95% CI, 1.1-1.8, respectively). As for serum magnesium, an only level above 2.4 mg/dL was associated with an increased mortality risk (OR 1.6 95% CI, 1.1-2.2). Conclusions: In the CCU setting, serum potassium 3.5-<4.5 mEq/L, ionized calcium ≥5.0 mg/dL and magnesium <2.4 mg/dL are associated with the lowest in-hospital mortality. These findings do not support supratherapeutic repletion of potassium and magnesium.

AbstractBackgroundReal‐world data on atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation outcomes in obese populations have remained scarce, especially the relationship between obesity and in‐hospital AF ablation outcome.HypothesisObesity is associated with higher complication rates and higher admission trend for AF ablation.MethodsWe drew data from the US National Inpatient Sample to identify patients who underwent AF ablation between 2005 and 2018. Sociodemographic and patients' characteristics data were collected, and the trend, incidence of catheter ablation complications and mortality were analyzed, and further stratified by obesity classification.ResultsA total of 153 429 patients who were hospitalized for AF ablation were estimated. Among these, 11 876 obese patients (95% confidence interval [CI]: 11 422–12 330) and 10 635 morbid obese patients (95% CI: 10 200–11 069) were observed. There was a substantial uptrend admission, up to fivefold, for AF ablation in all obese patients from 2005 to 2018 (p < .001). Morbidly obese patients were statistically younger, while coexisting comorbidities were substantially higher than both obese and nonobese patients (p < .01) Both obesity and morbid obesity were significantly associated with an increased risk of total bleeding, and vascular complications (p < .05). Only morbid obesity was significantly associated with an increased risk of ablation‐related complications, total infection, and pulmonary complications (p < .01). No difference in‐hospital mortality was observed among obese, morbidly obese, and nonobese patients.ConclusionOur study observed an uptrend in the admission of obese patients undergoing AF ablation from 2005 through 2018. Obesity was associated with higher ablation‐related complications, particularly those who were morbidly obese.

AbstractIntroductionWe aimed to assess the association between serum potassium and mortality in patients receiving continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).MethodsWe studied 1279 acute kidney injury patients receiving CRRT in a tertiary referral hospital in the United States. We used logistic regression to assess the association of serum potassium before CRRT and mean serum potassium during CRRT with 90‐day mortality after CRRT initiation, using serum potassium 4.0–4.4 mmol/L as reference group.ResultsBefore CRRT, there was a U‐shaped association between serum potassium and 90‐day mortality. There was a significant increase in mortality when serum potassium before CRRT was ≤3.4 and ≥4.5 mmol/L. During CRRT, progressively increased mortality was noted when mean serum potassium was ≥4.5 mmol/L. The odds ratio of 90‐day mortality was significantly higher when mean serum potassium was ≥4.5 mmol/L.ConclusionHypokalemia and hyperkalemia before CRRT and hyperkalemia during CRRT predicts 90‐day mortality.

AbstractIntroductionReal‐world data on atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation among moderate and advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients have so far remained scarce, especially in‐hospital AF ablation outcomes.MethodsWe drew data from the US National Inpatient Sample to identify hospitalized patients who underwent AF ablation between 2005 and 2018, and further stratified by CKD classification. We assessed the trend of AF ablation, as well as its complications.ResultsA total of 152 630 patients who were primarily hospitalized for AF and underwent ablation were estimated. Among these, CKD patients were found in a total of 1509 participants, with 978, 206, and 325 under CKD3, CKD4, and CKD5/ESKD, respectively. There was a significant increment in admission rates for AF ablation in the CKD population across all CKD classifications (p < .001). All CKD patients were statistically older, with higher coexisting comorbidities, while hypertension was found substantially lower than non‐CKD patients (p ≤ .001). Importantly, CKD, especially CKD3 and CKD5/ESKD, was significantly associated with an increased risk of total complications, and total bleeding, Neurological complications were found statistically lower in CKD patients (p = .029), and no mortality rates were significantly different (p = .287).ConclusionOur study observed an increase in admission trends for AF ablation among moderate and advanced CKD patients from 2005 to 2018. CKD was strongly associated with higher procedure‐related complications and bleeding, but neurological safety profiles and mortalities rates were nonsignificantly different.

Although most patients with hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, its infection is generally underdiagnosed and overlooked. In immunocompromised patients, HEV infection can lead to acute liver failure and death. However, the clinical evidence of HEV infection in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients is scarce; thus, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the prevalence of HEV infection in this population. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library databases from inception through October 2020 to identify studies that reported the prevalence of HEV infection among HSCT recipients. HEV infections were confirmed by HEV-IgG/IgM or HEV-RNA assay. A total of 1977 patients from nine studies with a follow-up time up to 40 months were included in the final analysis. The pooled prevalence of positive HEV-RNA was 3.0% (95% CI 2.3% to 4.0%). The pooled prevalence of positive HEV-IgG was 10.3% (95% CI 4.5% to 21.8%). The pooled prevalence of de novo HEV infection was 2.9% (95% CI 1.8% to 4.5%). Age and male gender were not associated with HEV-RNA or HEV-IgG positivity in the meta-regression analysis. In conclusion, the prevalence of HEV-IgG in HSCT recipients was about 10%, while the prevalence of HEV-RNA was only 3%. However, further studies that focus on the clinical outcomes in this population are warranted.

In United States (U.S.), government-funded organizations, such as NLDAC, reimburse travel and subsistence expenses incurred during living-organ donation process. However, in Iran, there is a non-governmental organization called Iranian Kidney Foundation (IKF) that funds the direct and indirect costs of donors through charitable donations and contributions from participants in the exchange program. In this article, for countries outside the U.S. that currently use an equality approach, we propose a potential new compensation-apportionment approach (equitable approach) for kidney-exchange chains and compare it with the currently available system (equality approach) in terms of the apportionment of compensation in a kidney-exchange chain to cover the expenses incurred by the initiating living donor of the chain in the act of donation. To this end, we propose a mechanism to apportion compensation among all participating pairs based on the equity approach by utilizing a prediction model to calculate the probability of graft survival in each transplant operation. These probabilities are then used to define the utility of any transplantation, considering the quality of each pair’s donated and received kidney in the chain. Afterward, the corresponding cost is apportioned by a mechanism based on the normalized differences between the utility of donated and received kidneys for each incompatible pair of the chain. In summary, we demonstrate that by utilizing the equitable approach, there is more fairness and equity in the allocation of resources in organ-procurement systems, which results in more satisfaction among incompatible pairs. Additional future prospective studies are needed to assess this proposed equitable approach for kidney-exchange chains in countries outside the U.S., such as Iran, that currently use an equality approach.