Roles of triglyceride and phosphate in atherosclerosis of diabetic hemodialysis patients

The Impact of Different Telerehabilitation Methods on Peripheral Muscle Strength and Aerobic Capacity in COPD Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Lung diseases have profound effects on the aging population. We aimed to hypothesize and investigate the effect of remote pulmonary telerehabilitation and motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) methods on the clinical status of elderly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Twenty-six patients were randomly assigned to pulmonary telerehabilitation (PtR) or cognitive telerehabilitation (CtR) groups. The programs were carried out 3 days a week for 8 weeks. The 6-min walk test (6MWT), modified Medical Research Council dyspnea score, blood lactate level (BLL), measurement of peripheral muscle strength (PMS), and electromyography activation levels of accessory respiratory muscles were the main outcomes. There was a statistically significant improvement (p < 0.05) in both groups in the 6MWT distance and in secondary results, except for BLL. Generally, in the mean muscle activity obtained from the electromyography measurement after the program, there were statistically significant increases in the PtR group and decreases in the CtR group (p < 0.05). There was a statistically significant increase in PMS in both groups. An active muscle-strengthening program has the same benefits as applying the muscle-strengthening program to the patient as MI and AO. CtR can be a powerful alternative rehabilitation method in respiratory patients who cannot tolerate active exercise programs.

A new method to determine anastomosis angle configuration for arteriovenous fistula maturation

Background: The kidneys of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) do not function well enough and those in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) of CKD need hemodialysis (HD) as a common renal replacement therapy (RRT) procedure. HD requires a vascular access (VA), and arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the common VA choice in the world due to its very few complications. Despite the widespread use of AVFs, some risk factors maximize AVF failure, which is accompanied by complications of the patient such as repeating VA surgeries and hospitalization. Therefore, finding effective factors in the success of surgery is highly important and, thus, this study aimed at measuring the effect of anastomosis angle on the success of AVF surgery. Methods: This study evaluated the effect of conducted angle in an AVF anastomosis on AVF maturation. The images of 48 created AVFs for CKD patients was provided over a one-year period (from May 2016 to April 2017). Cross-tab analysis was used, and significance level was considered meaningful at p-value≤0.001. A centralized database was designed to integrate data. A method for image processing was developed and geometrical characteristics of the vessels (such as anastomosis angle) and also the diameter of artery and vein were measured via AutoCAD 2017 software and exported to the database along with other data. Results: The rate of the AVF failure in the studied patients was 8.96%. The anastomosis angle ≤ 30° is preferable from the AVF status point of view because most AVF maturation (or least AVF failure) rates are detected at this range. Conclusion: This study was performed based on a new approach without the need to measure hemodynamic parameters. Moreover, it signified the important role of anastomosis angle in the function of AVF, showing that the anastomosis angle ≤ 30° is a preferable intraoperative recommendation for AVF surgery.

Less primary fistula failure in hypertensive patients

End stage renal disease (ESRD) patients suffer from advanced renal diseases and actually nonfunctioning kidneys, and need kidney transplantation or dialysis. Hemodialysis (HD) is the most used method and requires a vascular access (VA). Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the first choice of VA over the world for having least morbidity and mortality. Despite the wide-spread use of AVFs, the rate of AVF failures are notable. Detecting the factors that cause AVF failure can reduce repeating VA surgeries and hospitalization of ESRD patients. Present research studies 480 Iranian HD patients who underwent AVF surgery from 2010 to 2017 and aged 18-90 years old, using data mining techniques. (i) The AVF failure rate was equal to 8.96%, such that AVF failure has occurred in 3.54% and 5.52% of HD patient with and without hypertension, respectively. (ii) The rate of non-failure AVF in hypertensive patients is 61.46%, whereas the same rate for patients with negative history of hypertension reaches to 29.58%. (iii) Hypertension has a significant inverse association with AVF failure (Spearman's ρ = -0.160, P-value ≤ 0.005). (iv) The decision tree (with accuracy rate = 92.24%) shows less AVF failure in hypertsensive patients (5.53%) comparing with non-hypertensive patients (15.09%). (v) The AVFs with greater failure rates and non-hypertensive HD patients were clustered together. "Significantly lower risk of AVF failure was associated with presence of a positive history of hypertension; in other words, positive history of hypertension has an adverse effect on AVF failure and Hypertensive HD patients have more maturated AVF."