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BackgroundChronic kidney disease is a risk factor for oral diseases, which may be associated with premature death. We evaluated the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality associated with oral mucosal lesions in adults with kidney failure treated with long-term haemodialysis.MethodsOral mucosal lesions (herpes, ulceration, neoformation, white lesion, red lesion, oral candidiasis, geographical tongue, petechial lesions, and fissured tongue) were evaluated within the Oral Diseases in Haemodialysis (ORAL-D) study, a multinational cohort study of 4726 haemodialysis adults. We conducted cox regression analyses adjusted for demographic and clinical variables to evaluate the association with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.ResultsOverall, 4205 adults (mean age 61.6 ± 15.6 years) underwent oral mucosal examination with 40% affected by at least one lesion. The prevalence of oral lesions was (in order of frequency): oral herpes 0.5%, mucosal ulceration 1.7%, neoformation 2.0%, white lesion 3.5%, red lesion 4.0%, oral candidiasis 4.6%, geographical tongue 4.9%, petechial lesions 7.9%, and fissured tongue 10.7%. During median follow-up of 3.5 years, 2114 patients died (1013 due to cardiovascular disease). No association was observed between any individual oral lesion and all-cause or cardiovascular mortality when adjusted for comorbidities, except for oral candidiasis, which was associated with all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 1.37, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.86) and cardiovascular mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 1.64, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.46).ConclusionOral mucosal lesions are prevalent in haemodialysis patients. Oral candidiasis appears to be a risk factor for death due to cardiovascular diseases.

BACKGROUND:Interventional diagnostic and therapeutic procedures requiring intravascular iodinated contrast steadily increase patient exposure to the risks of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI), which is associated with death, nonfatal cardiovascular events, and prolonged hospitalization. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for CIAKI prevention in patients undergoing cardiovascular invasive procedures with iodinated contrast. METHODS AND FINDINGS:MEDLINE, Google Scholar, EMBASE and Cochrane databases as well as abstracts and presentations from major cardiovascular and nephrology meetings were searched, up to 22 April 2016. Eligible studies were randomized trials comparing strategies to prevent CIAKI (alone or in combination) when added to saline versus each other, saline, placebo, or no treatment in patients undergoing cardiovascular invasive procedures with administration of iodinated contrast. Two reviewers independently extracted trial-level data including number of patients, duration of follow-up, and outcomes. Eighteen strategies aimed at CIAKI prevention were identified. The primary outcome was the occurrence of CIAKI. Secondary outcomes were mortality, myocardial infarction, dialysis and heart failure. The data were pooled using network meta-analysis. Treatment estimates were calculated as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% credible intervals (CrI). 147 RCTs involving 33,463 patients were eligible. Saline plus N-acetylcysteine (OR 0.72, 95%CrI 0.57-0.88), ascorbic acid (0.59, 0.34-0.95), sodium bicarbonate plus N-acetylcysteine (0.59, 0.36-0.89), probucol (0.42, 0.15-0.91), methylxanthines (0.39, 0.20-0.66), statin (0.36, 0.21-0.59), device-guided matched hydration (0.35, 0.12-0.79), prostaglandins (0.26, 0.08-0.62) and trimetazidine (0.26, 0.09-0.59) were associated with lower odds of CIAKI compared to saline. Methylxanthines (0.12, 0.01-0.94) or left ventricular end-diastolic pressure-guided hydration (0.09, 0.01-0.59) were associated with lower mortality compared to saline. CONCLUSIONS:Currently recommended treatment with saline as the only measure to prevent CIAKI during cardiovascular procedures may not represent the optimal strategy. Vasodilators, when added to saline, may significantly reduce the odds of CIAKI following cardiovascular procedures.

Sexual dysfunction may affect 80% of women in hemodialysis. However the specific patterns and clinical correlates of sexual functioning remain poorly described. The aim of this study was to assess prevalence and correlates of the individual domains of sexual functioning in women treated with hemodialysis. We recruited, into this multinational cross-sectional study, women treated with long-term hemodialysis (Collaborative Working Group on Depression and Sexual dysfunction in Hemodialysis study). Self-reported domains of sexual functioning were assessed by the Female Sexual Function Index, which is routinely administered within the network of dialysis patients followed by the working group. Lower scores represented lower sexual functioning. Socio-demographic and clinical correlates of each domain of sexual functioning were identified by stepwise multivariable linear regression. Sensitivity analyses were restricted to women who reported being sexually active. We found that of 1309 enrolled women, 659 (50.3%) provided complete responses to FSFI survey questions and 232 (35%) reported being sexually active. Overall, most respondents reported either no sexual activity or low sexual functioning in all measured domains (orgasm 75.1%; arousal 64.0%; lubrication 63.3%; pain 60.7%; satisfaction 60.1%; sexual desire 58.0%). Respondents who were waitlisted for a kidney transplant reported scores with higher sexual functioning, while older respondents reported scores with lower functioning. The presence of depression was associated with worse lubrication and pain scores [mean difference for depressed versus non-depressed women (95% CI) -0.42 (-0.73 to -0.11), -0.53 (-0.89 to -0.16), respectively] while women who had experienced a previous cardiovascular event reported higher pain scores [-0.77 (-1.40- to -0.13)]. In conclusion, women in hemodialysis reported scores consistent with marked low sexual functioning across a range of domains; the low functioning appeared to be associated with comorbidity.

The increased risks of death and adverse events with erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) therapy targeting a higher hemoglobin level are established. It is uncertain whether the adverse effects of ESA therapy are related to dose and are mitigated when a fixed low ESA dose is used. We conducted a multicenter, prospective randomized open-label, blinded-endpoint (PROBE) trial to evaluate fixed low versus high dose ESA therapy on patient outcomes. We intended to recruit 2104 hemodialysis patients >18 years with anemia or receiving ESA treated at dialysis clinics in Italy. The intervention was fixed low (4000 IU epoetin alfa equivalent weekly) or high (18,000 IU epoetin alfa equivalent weekly) dose ESA for 12 months. Primary outcomes were serum transferrin, ferritin, albumin, C-reactive protein and ESA dose. Secondary outcomes were the composite of death or cardiovascular event, all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, cardiovascular hospitalization, and quality of life. Study recruitment was terminated after inclusion of 656 participants with convergence of ESA dose between groups during follow up. Fixed low dose ESA had uncertain effects on serum ferritin (delta of delta (DD) 3.9 ng/ml, 95% CI -85.0 to 92.8), transferrin (9.2 mg/dl, -6.3 to 24.8), transferrin saturation (3.7%, -5.0 to 12.3), serum albumin (-0.03 g/dl, -0.2 to 0.1), or C-reactive protein (-0.6 mg/l, -3.3 to 2.1). In addition, fixed dose therapy had inconclusive effects on the composite endpoint of mortality and cardiovascular events (hazard ratio [HR] 0.95, 95% CI 0.66 to 1.37), death (0.98, 0.64 to 1.52), nonfatal myocardial infarction (0.52, 0.18 to 1.52), nonfatal stroke (no events), hospital admission for cardiovascular causes (0.93, 0.50 to 1.72) or health-related quality of life. A fixed low ESA dose in hemodialysis patients has uncertain effects on serum parameters, mortality, cardiovascular events, and quality of life. Hemoglobin targets may be so entrenched in nephrology practice that a trial of ESA dose is no longer possible.