Screening for and treating asymptomatic bacteriuria are common in KTRs despite uncertainties around the benefits and harms. In an era of antimicrobial resistance, further studies are needed to address the diagnosis and management of asymptomatic bacteriuria in these patients.
To the Editor: Prone position ventilation has been shown to improve oxygenation and survival in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [1]. Facing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, prone positioning (PP) is of crucial importance to treat severe ARDS patients [2]. Nevertheless, the high number of ICU admissions quickly overwhelmed the ability of the daily ICU team to place patients in PP, a complex and time-consuming maneuver. Thus, we created a dedicated medical team with reassigned volunteers to cope with the large number of patients requiring PP. PP Team consisted of five volunteers: a senior medical non-intensivist physician placed at the patient's head to secure the endotracheal tube and four medical fellows or medical students placed at each side of the bed. For patients treated with VV-ECMO, a supplementary physician was added to secure the lines. Since PP is a complex procedure and has many potential adverse events requiring adequate and well-trained staff, volunteers received previously a theoretical training and a hands-on ad hoc training session. PP teams followed the guidelines for PP placement [1]. This retrospective observational study was performed in our extended ICU (from 22 to 46 beds), from the first day of deployment of PPT (March 23 to April 23, 2020). The main characteristics and outcomes of prone positioned patients (n = 63) are presented in Table 1.
Background
The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) measured at 1 year is the usual benchmark applied in kidney transplantation (KT). However, acting on earlier eGFR values could help in managing KT during the first post-operative year. We aimed to assess the prognostic value for long-term graft survival of the early (3 months) quantification of eGFR and proteinuria following KT.
Methods
The 3-, 6- and 12-month eGFR using the Modified Diet in Renal Disease equation (eGFRMDRD) was determined and proteinuria was measured in 754 patients who underwent their first KT between 2000 and 2010 (with a mean follow-up of 8.3 years) in our centre. Adjusted associations with graft survival were estimated using a multivariable Cox model. The predictive accuracy was estimated using the C-index and net reclassification index. These same analyses were measured in a multicentre validation cohort of 1936 patients.
Results
Both 3-month eGFRMDRD and proteinuria were independent predictors of return to dialysis (all P < 0.05) and there was a strong correlation between eGFR at 3 and 12 months (Spearman’s ρ = 0.76). The predictive accuracy of the 3-month eGFR was within a similar range and did not differ significantly from the 12-month eGFR in either the derivation cohort [C-index 62.6 (range 57.2–68.1) versus 66.0 (range 60.1–71.9), P = 0.41] or the validation cohort [C-index 69.3 (range 66.4–72.1) versus 71.7 (range 68.7–74.6), P = 0.25].
Conclusion
The 3-month eGFR was a valuable predictor of the long-term return to dialysis whose predictive accuracy was not significantly less than that of the 12-month eGFR in multicentre cohorts totalling >2500 patients. Three-month outcomes may be useful in randomized controlled trials targeting early therapeutic interventions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.