International comparison of trends in patients commencing renal replacement therapy by primary renal disease

Efficacy and Safety of the Use of SGLT2 Inhibitors in Patients on Incremental Hemodialysis: Maximizing Residual Renal Function, Is There a Role for SGLT2 Inhibitors?

SGLT-2i are the new standard of care for diabetic kidney disease (DKD), but previous studies have not included patients on kidney replacement therapy (KRT). Due to their high risk of cardiovascular, renal complications, and mortality, these patients would benefit the most from this therapy. Residual kidney function (RKF) conveys a survival benefit and cardiovascular health among hemodialysis (HD) patients, especially those on incremental hemodialysis (iHD). We retrospectively describe the safety and efficacy of SGLT2i regarding RKF preservation in seven diabetic patients with different clinical backgrounds who underwent iHD (one or two sessions per week) during a 12-month follow-up. All patients preserved RKF, measured as residual kidney urea clearance (KrU) in 24 h after the introduction of SGLT2i. KrU levels improved significantly from 4.91 ± 1.14 mL/min to 7.28 ± 1.68 mL/min at 12 months (p = 0.028). Pre-hemodialysis blood pressure improved 9.95% in mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p = 0.015) and 10.95% in mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (p = 0.041); as a result, antihypertensive medication was modified. Improvements in blood uric acid, hemoglobin A1c, urine albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR), and 24 h proteinuria were also significant. Regarding side effects, two patients developed uncomplicated urinary tract infections that were resolved. No other complications were reported. The use of SGLT2i in our sample of DKD patients starting iHD on a 1-2 weekly regimen appears to be safe and effective in preserving RKF.

Effect of frailty, physical performance, and chronic kidney disease on mortality in older patients with diabetes : a retrospective longitudinal cohort study

BACKGROUND

Declined renal function is associated with physical function impairment and frailty in a graded fashion. This study aimed to examine the relationship between renal function, frailty and physical performance with mortality in older patients with diabetes, while also determining their combined effects on patient outcome.

METHODS

A retrospective longitudinal study was conducted in elderly patients with diabetes. Kidney disease staging was based on clinical practice guidelines of the International Society of Nephrology, and chronic kiney disease (CKD) was defined as urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR) > 30 mg/g, persistent reduction in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) below 60 mL/min per 1.73 m² or both. The modified Rockwood frailty index (RFI) was composed of cumulative health deficits, and physical function was determined by handgrip strength (HGS). Additionally, a timed up and go (TUG) test was assessed at baseline. Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox proportional hazard analyses were used to analyze the association between CKD, frailty, physical function and mortality.

RESULTS

For the 921 enrolled patients, their mean age was 82.0 ± 6.7 years. After a median 2.92 (interquartile range [IQR] 1.06-4.43) year follow-up, the survival rate was 67.6% and 85.5% in patients with and without CKD, respectively. The mortality hazard ratio (crude HR) with CKD was 5.92 for those with an RFI higher than 0.313 (95% CI 3.44-10.18), 2.50 for a TUG time longer than 21 s (95% CI 1.22-5.13), and 2.67 for an HGS lower than 10.57 kg in females or 20.4 kg in males (95% CI 1.12-6.37). After multivariate adjustment, the mortality hazard ratio for an RFI ≥ 0.313 was 5.34 (95% CI 2.23-12.80) in CKD patients, but not in patients without CKD. In subgroup analysis, patients experiencing CKD and frailty, or physical function impairment, had the lowest survival proportion followed by only frailty/declined physical function, only CKD, without CKD, and non-frailty/non-physical impairment.

CONCLUSION

CKD, frailty and physical function impairment were all associated with an increased mortality risk in older patients with diabetes, while the combined effects of these 3 factors were seen on patient outcome.

Increasing numbers and improved overall survival of patients on kidney replacement therapy over the last decade in Europe: an ERA Registry study

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to describe the trends in the incidence, prevalence and survival of patients on kidney replacement therapy (KRT) for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) across Europe from 2008 to 2017.

METHODS

Data from renal registries in 9 countries and 16 regions that provided individual patient data to the ERA Registry from 2008 to 2017 were included. These registries cover 34% of the general population in Europe. Crude and standardized incidence and prevalence per million population (pmp) were determined. Trends over time were studied using Joinpoint regression. Survival probabilities were estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and hazard ratios (HRs) using Cox regression analysis.

RESULTS

The standardized incidence of KRT was stable (annual percentage change [APC]: -1.48 [-3.15; 0.21]) from 2008 (146.0 pmp) to 2011 (141.6 pmp), followed by a slight increase (APC: 1.01 [0.43; 1.60]) to 148.0 pmp in 2017, although trends in incidence varied across countries. This increase was primarily due to a rise in the incidence of KRT in men older than 65 years. Moreover, as a cause of kidney failure, diabetes mellitus is increasing. The standardized prevalence increased from 2008 (990.0 pmp) to 2017 (1166.8 pmp) (APC: 1.82 [1.75; 1.89]). Patient survival on KRT improved in the time period 2011-2013 compared with 2008-2010 (adjusted HR: 0.94 [0.93; 0.95).

CONCLUSION

This study showed an overall increase in the incidence and prevalence of KRT for ESKD as well as an increase in the KRT patient survival over the last decade in Europe.

National and international kidney failure registries: characteristics, commonalities, and contrasts

Registries are essential for health infrastructure planning, benchmarking, continuous quality improvement, hypothesis generation, and real-world trials. To date, data from these registries have predominantly been analyzed in isolated "silos," hampering efforts to analyze "big data" at the international level, an approach that provides wide-ranging benefits, including enhanced statistical power, an ability to conduct international comparisons, and greater capacity to study rare diseases. This review serves as a valuable resource to clinicians, researchers, and policymakers, by comprehensively describing kidney failure registries active in 2021, before proposing approaches for inter-registry research under current conditions, as well as solutions to enhance global capacity for data collaboration. We identified 79 kidney-failure registries spanning 77 countries worldwide. International Society of Nephrology exemplar initiatives, including the Global Kidney Health Atlas and Sharing Expertise to support the set-up of Renal Registries (SharE-RR), continue to raise awareness regarding international healthcare disparities and support the development of universal kidney-disease registries. Current barriers to inter-registry collaboration include underrepresentation of lower-income countries, poor syntactic and semantic interoperability, absence of clear consensus guidelines for healthcare data sharing, and limited researcher incentives. This review represents a call to action for international stakeholders to enact systemic change that will harmonize the current fragmented approaches to kidney-failure registry data collection and research.

SGLT-2 inhibitors and nephroprotection: current evidence and future perspectives

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health issue and an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Diabetic kidney disease develops in 30-50% of diabetic patients and it is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in the Western world. Strict blood pressure control and renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blocker use are the cornerstones of CKD treatment; however, their application in everyday clinical practice is not always ideal and in many patients CKD progression still occurs. Accumulated evidence in the past few years clearly suggests that sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors present potent nephroprotective properties. In clinical trials in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, these agents were shown to reduce albuminuria and proteinuria by 30-50% and the incidence of composite hard renal outcomes by 40-50%. Furthermore, their mechanism of action appears rather solid, as they interfere with the major mechanism of proteinuric CKD progression, i.e., glomerular hypertension and hyperfiltration. The present review summarizes the current evidence from human trials on the effects of SGLT-2 inhibitors on nephroprotection and discusses their position in everyday clinical practice.

Optimizing the timing of nephrology referral for patients with diabetic kidney disease

Age-standardized rates of diabetes mellitus (DM)-related complications, such as acute myocardial infarction, stroke or amputations, have decreased in recent years, but this was not associated with a clear reduction of the incidence of advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) requiring renal replacement therapy. The early detection of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a key to reduce complications, morbidity and mortality. Consensus documents and clinical practice guidelines recommend referral of DM patients to nephrology when the estimated glomerular filtration rate falls below 30 mL/min/1.73 m² or when albuminuria exceeds 300 mg/g urinary creatinine. Conceptually, it strikes as odd that patients with CKD are referred to the specialist caring for the prevention and treatment of CKD only when >70% of the functioning kidney mass has been lost. The increasing global health burden of CKD, driven in large part by DKD, the suboptimal impact of routine care on DKD outcomes as compared with other DM complications, the realization that successful therapy of CKD requires early diagnosis and intervention, the advances in earlier diagnosis of kidney injury and the recent availability of antidiabetic drugs with a renal mechanism of action and lack of hypoglycaemia risk, which additionally are cardio- and nephroprotective, all point towards a paradigm shift in the care for DM patients in which they should be referred earlier to nephrology as part of a coordinated and integrated care approach.

Evidence-based medicine-When observational studies are better than randomized controlled trials

In evidence-based medicine, clinical research questions may be addressed by different study designs. This article describes when randomized controlled trials (RCT) are needed and when observational studies are more suitable. According to the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, study designs can be divided into analytic and non-analytic (descriptive) study designs. Analytic studies aim to quantify the association of an intervention (eg, treatment) or a naturally occurring exposure with an outcome. They can be subdivided into experimental (ie, RCT) and observational studies. The RCT is the best study design to evaluate the intended effect of an intervention, because the randomization procedure breaks the link between the allocation of the intervention and patient prognosis. If the randomization of the intervention or exposure is not possible, one needs to depend on observational analytic studies, but these studies usually suffer from bias and confounding. If the study focuses on unintended effects of interventions (ie, effects of an intervention that are not intended or foreseen), observational analytic studies are the most suitable study designs, provided that there is no link between the allocation of the intervention and the unintended effect. Furthermore, non-analytic studies (ie, descriptive studies) also rely on observational study designs. In summary, RCTs and observational study designs are inherently different, and depending on the study aim, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

The Global Burden of Diabetic Kidney Disease: Time Trends and Gender Gaps

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Diabetes mellitus prevalence is increasing throughout the world as a consequence of growing rates of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and westernization of lifestyle. It is currently unknown to what extent these trends affect the global burden of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). This review seeks to describe the global burden of DKD and how it has changed throughout time using recently released results of the Global Burden of Disease 2017 Study.

RECENT FINDINGS

DKD prevalence has remained fairly stable at the global level and among many world regions since 1990. At the global level, the proportion of DKD deaths relative to other types of CKD is increasing. Certain world regions still have very high rates of DKD, whereas other world regions have decreasing prevalence and mortality. Screening will likely play an important role in mitigating the growing burden within high-risk regions.