BackgroundThe effectiveness of health care and health policy developments are often determined by health-related quality of life (HRQOL) assessment.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to explore the potential corresponding factors and traditional biomarkers of HRQOL in a large number of Iranian hemodialysis patients.Patients and MethodsA total of 6,930 chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients enrolled. KDCS-SF version 1.3 questionnaire was used to assess the health related quality of life (HRQOL). We pooled PCS, MCS and KDCS scores with random effect model from 19 similar studies performed between 1996 and 2010ResultsThe mean age was 54.4 ± 17.1 years. Mean PCS, MCS and KDCS scores obtained for the study cohort were 40.79 ± 20.10, 47.79 ± 18.31 and 57.97 ± 11.70, respectively; the total score of SF-36 plus KDCS was 51.12 ± 13.41 as well. The most common primary known disease was hypertension (31.9%) and the second etiology was diabetes (25.5%). In multilevel logistic regression, Kt/V between 1 and 1.2 and PCS, KDCS more than 50 were considered as a significant reduction in the risk of hospitalization.ConclusionsThis study showed that PCS and MCS score were slightly more than overall results while KDCS was slightly less than overall results. In addition, dialysis adequacy with Kt/V between 1 and 1.2 is associated with lower rate of hospitalization.

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) is a rare occurrence in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. AAV is an inflammatory disease that can lead to kidney failure due to the infiltration of mononuclear cells and the destruction of blood vessels. Also, crescentic glomerulonephritis (GN) has rarely been reported with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and acute tubular injury is the most common renal pathology lesion in these patients. We present a rare case of a 46-year-old woman with SSc with new onset of renal failure after a recent diagnosis of COVID-19. Her serology was positive for p-ANCA and myeloperoxidase antibodies. Kidney biopsy was done and showed crescentic GN. We suggest during this pandemic, patients with an immunological disorder that are infected with COVID-19 be closely monitored for any organ involvement.

Background:Patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) can be sustained with dialysis therapy.Objectives:In this study, we followed up the effect of early acute and late acute rejections on survival rates of patients’ grafts.Patients and Methods:We investigated the timing and frequency of acute rejection episodes related to long-term patient-graft survival in Taleghani hospital between 1990 and 2011. Recipients were divided into three groups as Group-1 (no rejection), Group-2 (early acute rejection [EAR]: less than 3-months) and Group-3 (late acute rejection [LAR]: after 3 months of transplant).Results:One and five-year patient’s survival rates were 94.87% and 93.8%, and graft survival (GS) rates were 92.6% and 81.9%. EAR and LAR occurred in 125 (18.8%) and 77 (11.7%) patients, respectively. Graft and patient survival rates at one and five years were as follows; Group-1 (Graft 96.7% and 94.5% patient: 97.4% and 96.8%), Group-2 (Graft: 72% and 61%, patient: 85.6% and 84%), Group-3 (Graft: 84.4% and 36.8%, patient: 92.2% and 89.4%). Recipient age, type and length of dialysis, number of transplantations and the status of panel reactivity antibody (PRA) had no effect on the type of rejection. LAR was more commonly associated with males (P = 0.001) and donors’ age was associated with rejection (P = 0.0002). Five-year GS rate among the three groups was lower in the LAR group (P < 0.0001).Conclusions:LAR had a negative impact on long-term renal allograft survival and the risk of chronic graft dysfunction increased in patients with a history of LAR.

Malignancy is a common complication after renal transplantation. However, limited data are available on post-transplant malignancy in living kidney transplantation. Therefore, we made a plan to evaluate the incidence and types of malignancies, association with the main risk factors and patient survival in a large population of living kidney transplantation. We conducted a large retrospective multicenter study on 12525 renal recipients, accounting for up to 59% of all kidney transplantation in Iran during 22 years follow up period. All information was collected from observation of individual notes or computerized records for transplant patients. Two hundred and sixty-six biopsy-proven malignancies were collected from 16 Transplant Centers in Iran; 26 different type of malignancy categorized in 5 groups were detected. The mean age of patients was 46.2±12.9 years, mean age at tumor diagnosis was 50.8±13.2 years and average time between transplantation and detection of malignancy was 50.0±48.4 months. Overall tumor incidence in recipients was 2%. Kaposis' sarcoma was the most common type of tumor. The overall mean survival time was 117.1 months (95% CI: 104.9-129.3). In multivariate analysis, the only independent risk factor associated with mortality was type of malignancy. This study revealed the lowest malignancy incidence in living unrelated kidney transplantation.