Nephroprevention in the oldest old with chronic kidney disease: Special considerations

Usefulness of frailty evaluation for handling chronic kidney disease elderly patients: a review and original proposal

There is interdependence between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and ageing whereby CKD makes ageing more accelerated and pronounced, whereas ageing accelerates chronic nephropathy's progression. Frailty status catalyzes this spiral, with renal and systemic negative consequences, and this condition can currently be documented by applying already validated clinical scores (frailty phenotype) or physical test (gate speed). Although, nephroprevention strategies are similar between young adult and senior CKD patients, standard targets should be adequate to very old and frail elderly individuals. For this purpose, an original algorithm is here proposed to adjust the conventional nephroprevention strategies to the condition of CKD frail patient (more relaxed targets and tighter control), as well as to prescribe anti-frailty interventions to slow patient's functional decline, hospitalization and mortality.

Interventions to prevent or reduce the level of frailty in community-dwelling older adults: a protocol for a scoping review of the literature and international policies

INTRODUCTION

With ageing comes increased vulnerability such that older adults' ability to recover from acute illnesses, fall-related injuries and other stresses related to the physical ageing processes declines. This increased vulnerability, also known as frailty, is common in older adults and associated with increased healthcare service use and adverse health outcomes. Currently, there is no overview of available interventions to prevent or reduce the level of frailty (as defined by study's authors) which will help healthcare providers in community settings caring for older adults. We will address this gap by reviewing interventions and international policies that are designed to prevent or reduce the level of frailty in community-dwelling older adults.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We will conduct a scoping review using the updated guidelines of Arksey and O'Malley to systematically search the peer-reviewed journal articles to identify interventions that aimed to prevent or reduce the level of frailty. We will search grey literature for international policies. The 6-stage scoping review model involves: (1) identifying the research question; (2) identifying relevant studies; (3) selecting studies; (4) charting the data; (5) collating, summarising and reporting the results and (6) consulting with key stakeholders.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Our scoping review will use robust methodology to search for available interventions focused on preventing or reducing the level of frailty in community-dwelling older adults. We will consult with stakeholders to find out whether they find the frailty interventions/policies useful and to identify the barriers and facilitators to their implementation in Canada. We will disseminate our findings to relevant stakeholders at local, national and international levels by presenting at relevant meetings and publishing the findings. Our review will identify gaps in research and provide healthcare providers and policymakers with an overview of interventions that can be implemented to prevent or postpone frailty.

Syndrome of rapid onset ESRD accounted for high hemodialysis catheter use--results of a 13-year Mayo Clinic incident hemodialysis study

BACKGROUND

The syndrome of rapid onset end-stage renal disease (SORO-ESRD) was first described in the journal Renal Failure in 2010. This is an acute precipitate unpredictable yet irreversible ESRD following acute kidney injury (AKI), as distinct from "classic" ESRD where chronic kidney disease (CKD)-ESRD progression was linear, time-dependent, and predictable. The overall impact of SORO-ESRD on ESRD outcomes in the adult US ESRD population remains speculative and called for larger studies.

METHODS

A retrospective investigation of an incident adult ESRD population, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, 2001-2013.

RESULTS

One hundred and forty-nine of 1461 (10%) incident patients with ESRD had SORO-ESRD - M:F = 76:73, age 62 (19-95) years, 139 (93%) native kidneys, and 10 (7%) renal transplant recipients (RTRs). The modal age group was 71-80 years. A total of 147 (99%) SORO-ESRD patients started first hemodialysis treatment via a dialysis catheter. Kidney biopsy in 10 RTRs and 34 native kidneys revealed acute tubular necrosis (ATN) as the commonest pathology. Cardiac arrest remained the leading cause of death among SORO-ESRD patients.

CONCLUSIONS

SORO-ESRD accounted for 149 (10%) of 1461 incident ESRD patients. There was no gender disparity. The older population was more susceptible. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of SORO-ESRD patients started their first hemodialysis treatment via a dialysis catheter, a major negative impact on AV fistula first programs. ATN was the leading pathologic diagnosis. We conclude that SORO-ESRD contributes significantly to incident ESRD here in the USA including renal allograft loss. Efforts to reduce AKI incidence or renoprevention demand more attention and priority.

Intraoperative hypotension - a neglected causative factor in hospital-acquired acute kidney injury; a Mayo Clinic Health System experience revisited

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a relatively common complication of cardiothoracic surgery and has both short- and long-term survival implications, even when AKI does not progress to severe renal failure. Given that currently, there are no active effective treatments for AKI, other than renal replacement therapy when indicated, the focus of clinicians ought to be on prevention and risk factor management. In the AKI-surgery literature, there exists this general consensus that intraoperative hypotension (IH) following hypotensive anesthesia (HA) or controlled hypotension (CH) in the operating room has no significant short-term and long-term impacts on renal function. In this review, we examine the basis for this consensus, exposing some of the flaws of the clinical study data upon which this prevailing consensus is based. We then describe our experiences in the last decade at the Mayo Clinic Health System, Eau Claire, in Northwestern Wisconsin, USA, with two selected case presentations to highlight the contribution of IH as a potent yet preventable cause of post-operative AKI. We further highlight the causative although neglected role of IH in precipitating postoperative AKI in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. We show additional risk factors associated with this syndrome and further make a strong case for the elimination of IH as an achievable mechanism to reduce overall, the incidence of hospital acquired AKI. We finally posit that as the old saying goes, prevention is indeed better than cure.