Although reverse causation cannot be excluded with certainty, a systolic blood pressure goal between 110 and 129 mm Hg may be beneficial in patients with urine protein excretion greater than 1.0 g/d. Systolic blood pressure less than 110 mm Hg may be associated with a higher risk for kidney disease progression.

Antihypertensive regimens that include ACE inhibitors are more effective than regimens without ACE inhibitors in slowing the progression of nondiabetic renal disease. The beneficial effect of ACE inhibitors is mediated by factors in addition to decreasing blood pressure and urinary protein excretion and is greater in patients with proteinuria. Angiotensin-converting inhibitors are indicated for treatment of nondiabetic patients with chronic renal disease and proteinuria and, possibly, those without proteinuria.

The antiproteinuric effects of ACE inhibitors and lowering blood pressure are greater in patients with a higher baseline urine protein excretion. The greater beneficial effect of ACE inhibitors on renal disease progression in patients with higher baseline proteinuria can be explained by their greater antiproteinuric effects in these patients. The current level of urine protein excretion is a modifiable risk factor for the progression of non-diabetic renal disease. ACE inhibitors provide greater beneficial effect at all levels of current urine protein excretion.

It is unclear whether patients with nondiabetic kidney disease benefit from angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) therapy when they are at low risk for disease progression or when they have low urinary protein excretion. With the use of a combined database from 11 randomized, clinical trials (n ‫؍‬ 1860), a Cox proportional hazards model, based on known predictors of risk and the composite outcome kidney failure or creatinine doubling, was developed and used to stratify patients into equal-sized quartiles of risk. Outcome risk and treatment effect were examined across various risk strata. Use of this risk model for targeting ACEI therapy was also compared with a strategy based on urinary protein excretion alone. Control patients in the highest quartile of predicted risk had an annualized outcome rate of 28.7%, whereas control patients in the lowest quartile of predicted risk had an annualized outcome rate of 0.4%. Despite the extreme variation in risk, there was no variation in the degree of benefit of ACEI therapy (P ‫؍‬ 0.93 for the treatment ؋ risk interaction). Significant interaction was detected between baseline urine protein and ACEI therapy (P ‫؍‬ 0.003). When patients were stratified according to their baseline urinary protein excretion, among the subgroup of patients with proteinuria >500 mg/d, significant treatment effect was seen across all patients with a measurable outcome risk, including those at relatively low risk (1.7% annualized risk for progression). However, there was no benefit of ACEI therapy among patients with proteinuria <500 mg/d, even among higher risk patients (control outcome rate 19.7%). Patients with nondiabetic kidney disease vary considerably in their risk for disease progression, but the treatment effect of ACEI does not vary across risk strata. Patients with proteinuria <500 mg/d do not seem to benefit, even when at relatively high risk for progression.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the ICED, summarize outcomes of prior studies in which it was used, and describe the adaptations that have lead to the present instrument. We will then demonstrate its use in quantifying the burden of comorbid conditions in a sample of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients from our center, and show the relationship between ICED levels and outcomes in peritoneal dialysis patients.

The introduction and development of comprehensive two‐dimensional gas chromatography offers greatly enhanced resolution and identification of organic analytes in complex mixtures compared to any one‐dimensional separation technique. Initially promoted by the need to resolve highly complex petroleum samples, the technique’s enormous separation power and enhanced ability to gather information has rapidly attracted the attention of analysts from all scientific fields. In this Minireview, we highlight the fundamental theory, recent advances, and future trends in the instrumentation and application of comprehensive two‐dimensional column separation.

SUMMARY In order to assess the utility of margin width in relation to other histopathologic features as a determinant of local control in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast, we retrospectively examined the treatment of 109 breasts treated with (n ‫؍‬ 54) or without adjuvant radiotherapy (n ‫؍‬ 55). Median follow-up was 49 and 54 months for patients treated with excision alone (E) or excision plus adjuvant radiotherapy (E؉XRT), respectively. Cases treated with E؉XRT were significantly larger and had a trend towards closer surgical margins than those treated with E alone. For all cases, margin width <1 mm and lesion diameter >15 mm were significantly associated with increased local recurrence. Lesion size <15 mm was associated with no cases of local failure regardless of treatment arm. For lesions >15 mm in diameter, there was a significant decrease in 5-year local failure with E؉XRT compared to E alone (21% vs. 36%, P ‫؍‬ 0.03). Tumor margin >1 mm was associated with a low rate of 5-year local failure for either E alone or E؉XRT (10.9% vs. 4.6%, P ‫؍‬ NS). Tumor margin <1 mm had a high rate of local failure that was not significantly decreased by the addition of adjuvant radiotherapy. These results show that large diameter (>15mm) and close surgical margins (<1 mm) are the dominant risk factors for local recurrence in DCIS. E؉XRT significantly decreased local failure risk compared to E alone for large lesions but not for those with close margins.

No abstract