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The associations between dietary sodium intake (DSI), dietary potassium intake (DPI), and kidney stone disease (KSD) are not clear. We examined The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2018 to determine the independent associations between daily DSI, DPI, DSI/DPI, and KSD prevalence. In total, 19,405 participants were included for analysis, of which 1,895 had KSD. Higher DSI was not associated with increased odds of KSD in regression analysis when DSI was modeled as a continuous variable (OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.99-1.00, p = 0.2), or when comparing highest quartile of DSI to lowest quartile (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.68-1.04, p = 0.1). Unlike DSI, higher DPI was strongly associated with reduced odds of KSD in regression analysis when DPI was modeled as a continuous variable (OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.99-0.99, p = 0.02), or when comparing highest quartile of DPI to lowest quartile (OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.60-0.94, p = 0.01). Lastly, higher DSI/DPI was also strongly associated with increased odds of KSD in regression analysis when DSI/DPI was modeled as a continuous variable (OR = 1.1, 95% CI: 1.01-1.20, p = 0.03), or when comparing highest quartile of DPI to lowest quartile (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.10-1.70, p = 0.008). All the observed relationships were independent of total calorie intake. In conclusion, both lower DPI and higher DSI/DPI are associated with an increased risk of KSD. Future prospective studies are needed to clarify these causal relationships.

Objectives: This study examined sociodemographic disparities in traumatic brain injury (TBI), and the association between TBI and substance misuse among young adults in Rhode Island., Methods: Among this sample of N=1,022 from the 2022 Rhode Island Young Adult Survey, multivariable logistic regressions were used to examine both study objectives., Results: Black, Asian, and Hispanic young adults had 77% (95%CI: 26%, 93%), 79% (95%CI: 32%, 94%), and 58% (95%CI: 31%, 75%) lower odds of brain injury, respectively, compared to White, non-Hispanic young adults. Those having experienced brain injury were more likely to engage in hazardous alcohol use (p = 0.003), hazardous marijuana use (p < 0.001), and illicit drug use (p = 0.003), but not OTC or prescription drug misuse., Conclusions: There is a pressing need for integrated, large-scale, multidisciplinary programs with a well-trained workforce to address TBI and substance misuse in various medical settings for behavioral health and emergency care.

The prevalence of HIV among people in correctional facilities remains much higher than that of the general population. Numerous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness and acceptability of HIV treatment for individuals incarcerated in US prisons and jails. However, the period following incarceration is characterized by significant disruptions in HIV care. These disruptions include failure to link in a timely manner (or at all) to community care post-release, as well as not being retained in care after linking. We used a retrospective, propensity-matched cohort design to compare retention in care between HIV-positive individuals recently released from prison (releasees) who linked to care in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) clinics and RWHAP patients without a recent incarceration history (community controls). We also performed analyses comparing viral load suppression of those retained in both groups. This study shows that even for those who do successfully link to care after prison, they are 24 to 29 percentage points less likely to be retained in care than those already in community care. However, we found that for those who did retain in care, there was no disparity in rates of viral suppression. These findings provide valuable insight regarding how best to address challenges associated with ensuring that HIV-positive individuals leaving prison successfully move through the HIV care continuum to become virally suppressed.

Incarcerated people remain a priority group in efforts to control and reverse the HIV epidemic. Following release, social instability and reengagement in key transmission risk behaviors increase the risk of secondary transmission of HIV. Targeted programs have been developed to facilitate reengagement in care on reentry. Evaluation of the impact of these initiatives requires a systematic, confidential, framework for assessment of linkage to care for persons released from corrections. By linking HIV viral load surveillance data to corrections release data, the time to the first laboratory monitoring service in the community as well as the virologic status can be assessed. Using this method, we linked release data for sentenced individuals released from Massachusetts state correctional facilities in 2012 to HIV surveillance data from the Massachusetts HIV/AIDS Surveillance Program (MHASP) for the years 2012-2013. We identified 41 individuals with HIV released in 2012. Ninety-one percent had identified virologic assessments post release, 41% within 30 days. Thirty-three percent did not have a viral load assessed for more than 90 days and 31% had detectable virus at the time of their initial assessment. Persons with longer incarcerations (> 180 days) were more likely to have suppressed viral load at the time of follow-up (p = 0.05). This work demonstrates the important value of HIV laboratory surveillance data and correctional release data as a tool to assess linkage to care following release from corrections. We encourage jurisdictions to explore utilizing similar methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of the linkage to HIV care after release from incarceration.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) knowledge among patients newly referred to a nephrology clinic is limited. This study aimed to determine if CKD knowledge 1 year after initial consultation in a nephrology clinic improves with standard care., Methods: Patients newly referred to a nephrology outpatient clinic received standard care from nephrologists, and had access to educational pamphlets, relevant internet sites and patient support groups. Those with estimated glomerular filtration rate <20 mL/min/1.73 m(2) received individual education from a multi-disciplinary team. Knowledge was assessed by questionnaire at first visit and after 12 months., Results: Of 210 patients at baseline, follow-up data were available at 12.7 (±1.7) months for 95. Median age was 70 [interquartile range (IQR) 60-76] years and 54% were male. Baseline median creatinine of the follow-up cohort was 137 (IQR 99-179) µmol/L. Eighty per cent had seen a nephrologist at least three times, 8% saw a CKD nurse, 50% reported collecting pamphlets and 16% reported searching the internet. At 12 months, fewer patients reported being uncertain why they had been referred (5 versus 20%, P = 0.002) and fewer reported being unsure of the meaning of CKD (37 versus 57%, P = 0.005). Unknown (44%) and alcohol (23%) remained the most common causes of CKD identified. Fewer patients responded 'unsure' regarding the treatment of CKD (38 versus 57%, P = 0.004)., Conclusions: After a year of standard care at nephrology outpatient clinics there were some minor improvements in patient knowledge; however, patient understanding of CKD remained poor.

Background: Simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplantation carries a higher risk of surgical complications than kidney transplantation alone. We aimed to establish the incidence of surgical complications after SPK transplantation and determine the effect on graft and patient survival., Methods: Outcomes of all SPK transplants performed at our centre were compared between patients who experienced a surgical complication (SC group) and those who did not (NSC group)., Results: Our centre performed 193 SPK transplants in a 15-year period; 44 patients (23%) experienced a surgical complication. One-year and 5-year pancreatic graft survival was 89 and 80%, respectively; this was lower in the SC group. There was no significant difference in patient or kidney graft survival between the SC and NSC groups at 5 years (92 and 83%, respectively.), Conclusion: Surgical complications following SPK transplantation can cause significant morbidity and adversely affect pancreas graft survival, but do not affect long-term kidney or patient survival.

A positive pretransplant flow cytometry cross-match (FC-XM) allows precise identification of high-risk recipients vulnerable to hyperacute or accelerated rejection after transplantation. Living donor kidney transplant recipient candidates with positive cross-match have been successfully treated with a combination of plasmapheresis (therapeutic plasma exchange, TPEX) and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), achieving conversion to negative cross-match and successful transplant. We report the first successful case of simultaneous pancreas kidney transplant (SPKT) from a living donor (LD) performed against an initially positive FC-XM, converted to negative using a protocol based on TPEX and IVIG in combination with antiCD20 monoclonal antibody. This strategy of overcoming the cross-match barriers in living donation may offer a chance of successful transplantation to highly sensitized candidates for SPKT, for whom cadaveric transplant is difficult to achieve.

Liver transplantation (LTx) is the best treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but should be offered only to selected patients. The usual procedure is to transplant only for small and unilobular tumors. The aim of this paper is to verify whether the actual indication criteria are still justified. The details of 121 patients with HCC who were submitted to LTx from 1985 to 2000 were analyzed. Age, gender, liver disease, Child class, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level, presence of tumor capsule, vascular invasion, size and number of nodules, histological grade, and pTNM were considered. The 5- and 10-year actuarial survival rates were 61.7% and 53.1%. Freedom from recurrence was 85.9% and 85.9%, respectively. At univariate analysis, size, presence of capsule, AFP levels, vascular invasion, grade, pTNM, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), Child class, and age were all significantly related to survival and/or cancer recurrence. Presence of capsule, AFP levels, and viral cirrhosis were independent variables in Cox's analysis for survival, whereas histological grade, AFP levels, and vascular invasion were significant independent variables for recurrence. In conclusion, a strict selection should be made to optimize graft allocation while size and multifocality should probably no longer be considered a contraindication for LTx. Histological grade, AFP levels, and vascular invasion, as indicator of tumor behavior, more likely reflect the risk of recurrence.