BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES During the past decade, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) has been reported in patients who have severe renal impairment and have been exposed to a gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast agent during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). As a result of positive reporting bias, many suitable patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are being denied a highly important form of in...

BACKGROUND There is data in the literature indicating increased oxidative stress in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Erythropoiesisstimulating agents (ESAs), which are commonly used to treat anemia in patients with CKD, seem to have an antioxidant action, which could be a part of nephroprotection. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of a long half-life ESA, methoxy polyethyl...

Background: The impact of different definitions of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) on the assessment of left ventricular (LV) remodeling in predialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains unclear. Methods: Echocardiography was performed on 107 consecutively enrolled patients with different stages of CKD including 36 patients mild CKD (CKD stages 1 and 2) and 71 patients with moderate/severe...

BACKGROUND Chronic inflammation is frequently noted in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and contributes to the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases. Monocytes are heterogeneous populations of cells, and they can be divided into subtypes with different phenotypes and functions based on CD14 and CD16 positivity. This study examined whether the proinflammatory CD14(+)CD...

BACKGROUND/AIM Physical function decline in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients has been a popular area of investigation in the last decade. It has been shown that lower levels of physical function in CKD results in poor outcomes. Nevertheless, nephrology practice does not include routine assessment of physical function. The aim of the present study is to elucidate which physical function ass...

Patients with predialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) have increased risk for fracture, but the structural mechanisms underlying this increased skeletal fragility are unknown. We measured areal bone mineral density (aBMD) by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at the spine, hip, and radius, and we measured volumetric BMD (vBMD), geometry, and microarchitecture by high-resolution peripheral quanti...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE Nutrition is important in the therapy of predialysis patients. The aim of the presented single-centre descriptive study was to assess the diet in chronic kidney disease female predialysis patients with no previous dietary intervention, in comparison with recommendations, as well as the analysis of the energy, protein and phosphate intake in correlation with chosen lab...

OBJECTIVE To describe the resource utilization and care of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in a managed care plan. METHODS This was a retrospective claims analysis of a nationwide managed care medical and pharmacy database from September 1, 1998, to July 31, 2001. Twenty-seven health plans in 19 states distributed across the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and Southwest United States wer...

When compared to the available information for patients on dialysis (CKD stage 5D), data on the epidemiology and appropriate treatment of calcium and phosphate metabolism in the predialysis stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) are quite limited. Perceptible derangements of calcium and phosphate levels start to become apparent when GFR falls below 30 mL/min in some, but not all, patients. Howe...

BACKGROUND Pruritus is a common cutaneous manifestation of chronic kidney disease (CKD). It is associated with poor sleep quality, anxiety and depression which may contribute to reduction in quality of life (QoL). Paying more attention to pruritus in CKD patients may improve their QoL, reduce kidney disease burden and mortality. This study determined the prevalence, pattern and association of p...