The effect of scaling and root planning on the periodontal condition in hemodialysis patients: A clinical trial study

Background and Aims

Periodontitis is very common in kidney patients undergoing hemodialysis. The two diseases interact with each other so that kidney failure exacerbates periodontal disease and periodontal disease increases the severity of the renal failure. This study aimed to compare the effect of scaling and root planning on the periodontal status of hemodialysis patients and the healthy control group.

Methods

A clinical trial study of 60 subjects, 30 subjects in the dialysis group with chronic periodontitis, and 30 with chronic periodontitis who were systemically healthy was conducted. After a health education session, gingival pocket depth (PD) measurement, and clinical attachment level (CAL), scaling was performed for both groups. Then, the mentioned indices were measured consequently, at 4 and 8 weeks of treatment. Improvement in both groups was analyzed by Mann-Whitney and paired sample t-test at the significance level of 0.05 by SPSS software.

Results

In both groups, the decrease in PD and CAL was steadily observed from the first to the third time and the changes from the first to the second and the first to the third time were significant however it was not significant between the second and third time. Mean PD and CAL in the dialysis group were higher than in the nondialysis group, which was significant (p < 0.001) for the mean PD. The mean improvement of PD and CAL in dialysis patients was 14.31 ± 10.48 and 17.60 ± 7.83%, respectively, and the mean improvement of PD in the nondialysis group was significantly higher than in the dialysis group (p = 0.008).

Conclusion

Periodontal treatment (scaling) causes more improvement in periodontal clinical parameters in healthy people with periodontitis than in dialysis patients.

Simultaneous Liver-Kidney Transplantation in Patient with a History of Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia: A Case Report and Literature Review

Patient: Male, 58

Final Diagnosis: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia

Symptoms: Liver and kidney failure

Medication: —

Clinical Procedure: Simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation

Specialty: Transplantology

The clinical significance and risk factors of anti-platelet factor 4/heparin antibody on maintenance hemodialysis patients: a two-year prospective follow-up

BACKGROUND

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia is an immune response mediated by anti-PF4/heparin antibody, which is clinically characterized by thrombocytopenia and thromboembolic events. In this study, a prospective and multi-center clinical investigation 1) determined the positive rate of anti-PF4/heparin antibody in maintenance hemodialysis patients in China, 2) identified the related risk factors, and 3) further explored the effect of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody on bleeding, thromboembolic events, and risk of death in the patients.

METHODS

The serum anti-PF4/heparin antibody was measured in 661 patients from nine hemodialysis centers, detected by IgG-specific ELISA and followed by confirmation with excess heparin. Risk factors of these patients were analyzed. Based on a two-year follow-up, the association between the anti-PF4/heparin antibody and bleeding, thromboembolic events, and risk of death in the patients was investigated.

RESULTS

1) The positivity rate of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody in maintenance hemodialysis patients was 5.6%. With diabetes as an independent risk factor, the positivity rate of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody decreased in the patients undergoing weekly dialyses ≥3 times. 2) The positivity rate of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody was not related to the occurrence of clinical thromboembolic events and was not a risk factor for death within two years in maintenance hemodialysis patients. 3) Negativity for the anti-PF4/heparin antibody combined with a reduction of the platelet count or combined with the administration of antiplatelet drugs yielded a significant increase in bleeding events. However, the composite determination of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody and thrombocytopenia, as well as the administration of antiplatelet drugs, was not predictive for the risk of thromboembolic events in the maintenance hemodialysis patients.

CONCLUSIONS

A single detection of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody did not predict the occurrence of clinical bleeding, thromboembolic events, or risk of death in the maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a drug-mediated, prothrombotic disorder caused by immunization against platelet factor 4 (PF4) after complex formation with heparin or other polyanions. After their binding to PF4/heparin complexes on the platelet surface, HIT antibodies are capable of intravascular platelet activation by cross-linking Fcγ receptor IIA leading to a platelet count decrease and/or thrombosis. Diagnosis of HIT is often difficult. This, and the low specificity of the commercially available immunoassays, leads currently to substantial overdiagnosis of HIT. Timing of onset, the moderate nature of thrombocytopenia, and the common concurrence of thrombosis are very important factors, which help to differentiate HIT from other potential causes of thrombocytopenia. A combination of a clinical pretest scoring system and laboratory investigation is usually necessary to diagnose HIT. Although HIT is considered to be a rare complication of heparin treatment, the very high number of hospital inpatients, and increasingly also hospital outpatients receiving heparin, still result in a considerable number of patients developing HIT. If HIT occurs, potentially devastating complications such as life-threatening thrombosis make it one of the most serious adverse drug reactions. If HIT is strongly suspected, all heparin must be stopped and an alternative nonheparin anticoagulant started at a therapeutic dose to prevent thromboembolic complications. However, the nonheparin alternative anticoagulants bear a considerable bleeding risk, especially if given to patients with thrombocytopenia due to other reasons than HIT. While established drugs for HIT are disappearing from the market (lepirudin, danaparoid), bivalirudin, fondaparinux and potentially the new anticoagulants such as dabigatran, rivaroxaban and apixaban provide new treatment options.

Validation of whole blood impedance aggregometry as a new diagnostic tool for HIT: results of a large Australian study

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) remains a challenge, with diagnosis confirmed only by functional assays. The gold standard 14C-serotonin release assay (SRA) is highly sensitive but technically challenging and unsuitable for routine use. We conducted a large study to validate whole blood impedance aggregometry (WBIA) as a suitable diagnostic tool for HIT. WBIA and SRA were used to test 181 samples positive for H-PF4 antibodies by PaGIA or ELISA. Using the same high responder donor, 77 samples were positive by WBIA (aggregation with low-dose but not high-dose heparin). Using the strict definition for SRA positivity, 72 samples were true HIT. In nine samples, serotonin release with high-dose heparin dropped by > 50% but was still >20%; these were retested after a one-half dilution and 8/9 became positive. Ten other samples were discrepant between the two assays: one strongly positive (89% release) and six weakly positive samples by SRA (average release 56%) were WBIA negative. When these samples were retested using a random donor, only two remained SRA positive. Three samples were strongly WBIA positive but SRA negative; two were retested by SRA with 0.5IU/ml heparin and one became positive. Under controlled conditions, using the same selected high-responder donor, WBIA and SRA performed similarly with slightly increased sensitivity of the WBIA when using the strict definition of SRA positivity. WBIA is easy to perform with rapid turn-around time and warrants a multi-laboratory trial to complete its validation as a confirmatory assay for platelet-activating HIT antibodies.

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. A contemporary clinical approach to diagnosis and management

Thrombocytopenia following heparin administration can be associated with an immune reaction, now referred to as heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). HIT is essentially a prothrombotic disorder mediated by an IgG antiplatelet factor 4/heparin antibody, which induces platelet, endothelial cell, monocyte, and other cellular activation, leading to thrombin generation and thrombotic complications. Indeed, HIT can also be regarded as a serious adverse drug effect. Importantly, HIT can be a life-threatening and limb-threatening condition frequently associated with characteristically severe and extensive thromboembolism (both venous and arterial) rather than with bleeding. This article provides an overview of HIT, with an emphasis on the clinical diagnosis and management.