ObjectivesTo assess the role of nephrectomy as a risk factor for the development of hypertension and microalbuminuria.DesignProspective, long-term follow-up study.SettingSwiss Organ Living-Donor Health Registry.ParticipantsAll living kidney donors in Switzerland between 1993 and 2009.InterventionsData on health status and renal function before 1 year and biennially after donation were collected.Primary and secondary outcome measuresComparison of 1-year and 5-year occurrences of hypertension among normotensive donors with 1-year and 5-year estimates from the Framingham hypertension risk score. Multivariate random intercept models were used to investigate changes of albumin excretion after donation, correcting for repeated measurements and cofactors such as age, male gender and body mass index.ResultsA total of 1214 donors contributed 3918 data entries with a completed biennial follow-up rate of 74% during a 10-year period. Mean (SD) follow-up of donors was 31.6 months (34.4). Median age at donation was 50.5 years (IQR 42.2–58.8); 806 donors (66.4%) were women. Donation increased the risk of hypertension after 1 year by 3.64 (95% CI 3.52 to 3.76; p<0.001). Those participants remaining normotensive 1 year after donation return to a risk similar to that of the healthy Framingham population. Microalbuminuria before donation was dependent on donor age but not on the presence of hypertension. After nephrectomy, hypertension became the main driver for changes in albumin excretion (OR 1.19; 95% CI 0.13 to 2.25; p=0.03) and donor age had no effect.ConclusionsNephrectomy propagates hypertension and increases susceptibility for the development of hypertension-induced microalbuminuria.
Background. Haemodialysis patients need sustained treatment with intravenous iron because iron deficiency limits the efficacy of recombinant human epoetin therapy in these patients. However, the optimal intravenous iron maintenance dose has not been established yet. Methods. We performed a prospective multicentre clinical trial in iron-replete haemodialysis patients to evaluate the efficacy of weekly low-dose (50 mg) intravenous iron sucrose administration for 6 months to maintain the iron status, and to examine the effect on epoetin dosage needed to maintain stable haemoglobin values in these patients. Fifty patients were enrolled in this prospective, open-label, single arm, phase IV study. Results. Forty-two patients (84%) completed the study. After 6 months of intravenous iron sucrose treatment, the mean ferritin value showed a tendency to increase slightly from 405 AE 159 at baseline to 490 AE 275 mg/l at the end of the study, but iron, transferrin levels and transferrin saturation did not change. The haemoglobin level remained stable (12 AE 1.1 at baseline and 12.1 AE 1.5 g/dl at the end of the study). The mean dose of darbepoetin alfa could be reduced from 0.75 to 0.46 mg/kg/week; epoetin alfa was decreased from 101 to 74 IU/kg/week; and the mean dose of epoetin beta could be reduced from 148 to 131 IU/kg/week at the end of treatment. Conclusions. A regular 50 mg weekly dosing schedule of iron sucrose maintains stable iron stores and haemoglobin levels in haemodialysed patients and allows considerable dose reductions for epoetins. Low-dose intravenous iron therapy may represent an optimal approach to treat the continuous loss of iron in dialysis patients.
BackgroundOffering living kidney donation raised the concern that donors are exposed to unknown risks. All Swiss transplant centres therefore decided to start a prospective cohort study of living kidney donors in Switzerland. This paper describes the rationale for and implementation of this cohort study.Methods/designAll kidney donors in Switzerland are registered and examined before donation and biennially after donation starting in the first year after nephrectomy. Before each follow-up visit, the study centre sends a package to the kidney donor containing the health questionnaire, blood and urine tubes and a prepaid envelope for sending the samples to the central laboratory. The donor makes an appointment with their family physician, who examines the donor and reports findings such as pain and other complaints, blood pressure, creatinine, albumin, all major health events and the state of mental and social well-being to the study centre. The family doctor draws the blood sample and mails it with the urine sample in the prepaid envelope. All data are centrally managed. All abnormal findings in the follow-up of individual donors are regularly discussed with the principal investigator, and necessary clinical changes made and recorded in the database. The health insurance of the recipient covers all costs of the donor follow-up. The main outcomes are the occurrence of albuminuria, hypertension and renal insufficiency. The secondary outcomes are major somatic and social events such as death, cardiovascular disease, stroke and depression.DiscussionThis prospective cohort offers unique opportunities to assess the risks of living kidney donation and will allow us to examine the risks associated with the methods used for nephrectomy in Switzerland (various forms of open surgery and laparoscopic nephrectomy). The prospective collection of all clinically relevant data and the regular monitoring of donors will allow timely interventions at early stages before serious kidney and general health problems occur.
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