No abstract

Mortality is markedly elevated in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Between 30 and 50% of prevalent patients have elevated serum levels of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein and IL-6. The presence of inflammation, chronic or episodic, has been found to be associated with increased mortality risk. The causes of inflammation are multifactorial and include patient-related factors, such as underlying disease, comorbidity, oxidative stress, infections, obesity, and genetic or immunologic factors, or on the other side, HD-related factors, mainly depending on the membrane biocompatibility and dialysate quality. The adequate knowledge of these causes and their prevention or treatment if possible may contribute to improving the inflammatory state of patients who are on HD and possibly their mortality.

Abstract. Patients returning to hemodialysis (HD) after failure of their kidney transplant suffer from high morbidity and mortality rates. It is common practice to keep failed kidney transplants in place. It is not known if these failed kidney transplants induce an inflammatory state that contributes to morbidity and mortality. In a single facility, patients starting on HD with failed kidney transplant were identified (Group A) and screened for the presence of chronic inflammatory state. Those with clinical symptoms attributed to the failed allograft (Group A1) were not offered transplant nephrectomy unless deemed necessary during follow-up. Their clinical and laboratory data were followed up for 6 months. Similar data were obtained from a group of incident HD patients (Group B).

No abstract

Our results show that a greater IDWG is directly associated with a better nutritional status, although it is also associated with higher predialysis blood pressure. The greater the IDWG%, the better the long-term prognosis of the patients. The beneficial effects of IDWG on the nutritional status and prognosis are greater than the negative aspects that depend on its effects on blood pressure. One must distinguish clearly between some isolated instances of not complying with a diet from those situations where a higher IDWG is merely a reflection of a good nutritional status, and one must be careful so that dietary recommendations will not have a negative influence on nutritional aspects. One must watch and correct the trend towards higher acidosis in patients with a greater IDWG.