Nephrology News

Pregnant women, newborns, the elderly and patients with comorbidities, like diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, have the highest risk of contracting COVID-19, researchers wrote after analyzing data from patients with kidney disease in China.

Patients with chronic kidney disease and declining kidney function who received angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blocker therapy were at lower risk for major adverse CV events and mortality, according to a retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

PHOENIX — Defining health equity as “the elimination of avoidable disparities in health outcomes among socially disadvantaged groups,” Darren Stewart, MD, a research scientist at the United Network for Organ Sharing, outlined how the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network goes about monitoring the transplantation process and also named the four factors most strongly associated with disparities in access to kidney transplant.

An analysis of screening tests designed to assess cognitive function determined the Montreal Cognitive Assessment had the highest predictive ability for detecting severe impairment in patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis.

Dialysis should not occur in an outpatient facility for a person under investigation for the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, unless an airborne isolation room is available, according to new guidance from the American Society of Nephrology.

United States patients who received maintenance dialysis for ESRD and also had frailty experienced significantly worse in-hospital outcomes than patients on dialysis without frailty, according to study results.

U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy, MD, R-La., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced legislation on Feb. 28 that would extend immunosuppressive drug coverage for Medicare patients who receive a kidney transplant regardless of age.

Exposure to a higher amount of particulate matter air pollution was associated with an increased level of albuminuria, as well as a greater risk for chronic kidney disease, according to recently published findings.

Each year, the National Kidney Foundation’s Spring Clinical Meetings engages speakers from across the country to share the most current developments in nephrology. Topics are selected with the purpose of presenting health care providers, such as nephrologists, general internists, pharmacists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, social workers or dieticians, with the latest insights into caring for patients with kidney disease to better their practice.

There was substantial variation among dialysis centers regarding referral and evaluation rates for kidney transplantation, according to this study. In addition, researchers observed differences in which patients were most likely to be referred and/or evaluated.