The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of COVID-19 disease in the French national population of dialysis patients, their course of illness and to identify the risk factors associated with mortality. Our study included all patients on dialysis recorded in the French REIN Registry in April 2020. Clinical characteristics at last follow-up and the evolution of COVID-19 illness severity over time were recorded for diagnosed cases (either suspicious clinical symptoms, characteristic signs on the chest scan or a positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) for SARS-CoV-2. A total of 1,621 infected patients were reported on the REIN registry from March 16th, 2020 to May 4th, 2020. Of these, 344 died. The prevalence of COVID-19 patients varied from less than 1% to 10% between regions. The probability of being a case was higher in males, patients with diabetes, those in need of assistance for transfer or treated at a self-care unit. Dialysis at home was associated with a lower probability of being infected as was being a smoker, a former smoker, having an active malignancy, or peripheral vascular disease. Mortality in diagnosed cases (21%) was associated with the same causes as in the general population. Higher age, hypoalbuminemia and the presence of an ischemic heart disease were statistically independently associated with a higher risk of death. Being treated at a selfcare unit was associated with a lower risk. Thus, our study showed a relatively low frequency of COVID-19 among dialysis patients contrary to what might have been assumed.

A prospective epidemiologic survey of bacterial infections in chronic hemodialysis patients was conducted from September 1, 1989 to February 28,1990 in 27 dialysis units. Of the 1,455 patients enrolled in the study, 55 presented 63 episodes of bacteremia (incidence of 0.7 bacteremia per 100 patient-months). The portal of entry of sepsis was the vascular access in 50.8% of the episodes. The causative microorganisms were most often gram-positive cocci (69.8%). 23% of the teremic patients had a serum ferritin > 1,000 μg/l versus 7% of the nonbacteremic infected patients (p = 0.005). 39.7% of the patients had undergone a surgical operation during the month preceding the bacteremia. Eight patients had a recurrence during the study period and 8 had a metastatic localization: spondylodiscitis 2, septic pulmonary embolus 2, endocarditis 1, arthritis 1, liver abscess 1 and endophthalmia 1.66% of the episodes required a hospitalization that lasted an average of 20 days. Mortality rate was 6.3%. This prospective study showed a trend towards a reduction in incidence and mortality of bacteremia in patients on chronic hemodialysis.

These classifications identify groups at high risk of ESRF. Therapeutic studies should focus on these groups.

Six patients with toxoplasmosis complicating renal transplantation are described, and 25 other reported cases are reviewed. The mean age of the 31 patients was 35.16 years. Most of the recipients (25 of 29) showed signs of toxoplasmosis within 3 months post-transplantation, with fever, neurological disturbances, and pneumonia as the main clinical features. Diagnosis was established at autopsy in 15 cases, by serology in 13 cases, and by direct examination, culture, or polymerase chain reaction of biological samples in 5 cases. Seventeen patients also had concomitant infections. The donor was the likely source of transmission to 10 recipients; reactivation was suspected in two cases. The source of transmission could not be determined for the remaining 19 patients. The mortality rate was 64.5%. Ten of the 11 patients given specific treatment survived, indicating that early diagnosis and therapy are essential.

This paper summarizes our clinical studies on hydrostatic intraperitoneal pressure (IPP), showing the interest of this measurement in routine clinical practice. IPP can easily be measured routinely by a simple an d safe method: the measure of the column of dialysate in the peritoneal dialysis (PD) line before drainage, with point 0 located on the midaxillary line. The normal value is 12±2 cm of water (cm H2O) with an intraperitoneal volume (IPV) of 2 L, with linear increases of 2.2 cm H2O for each additional liter. IPP must be measured to estimate the tolerance of IPV: the maximal permissible IPV is reached for an IPP of 18 cm H2O, squaring with a decrease of 200/0 in vital capacity and sometimes arising before clinical symptomatology. However, IPP measured at rest could not predict PD mechanical complications (hernias, dialysis leakages, hemorrhoids, etc.), which are more dependent on parietal previous history or predisposition. IPP is significantly higher during the first three days after peritoneal catheter implantation (17±3 cm H2O) than during the 12 following days (10±4 cm H2O). It is recommended to postpone the start of PD until after catheter implantation, and patients should remain supine for the first three days. On the other hand, IPP strongly reduces the overall ultrafiltration (UF) volume: an increase of 1 cm H2O in IPP caused a decrease of 70 mL in global UF after two hours. Therefore, IPP should be measured in diagnosis of losses of UF. However, UF loss during peritonitis is not due to an increase of IPP.