The population undergoing dialysis is aging worldwide, particularly in Japan. The clinical condition of frailty is the most problematic expression in the elderly population. Potential pathophysiological factors of frailty present in patients with CKD and are accentuated in patients with ESRD. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence and predictors of frailty in Japanese HD patients. This study was a multicenter, cross-sectional and observational investigation conducted at 6 institutions. To evaluate frailty, the modified Fried’s frailty phenotype adjusted for Japanese as the self-reported questionnaire was used. Of the 542 patients visiting each institution, 388 were enrolled in this study. In total, 26.0% of participants were categorized as not-frailty, 52.6% as pre-frailty and 21.4% as frailty. The prevalence of frailty increased steadily with age and was more prevalent in females than in males and the subjects with frailty received polypharmacy. A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the factors independently associated with frailty were the following: female gender (odds ratio [OR] = 3.661, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.398-9.588), age (OR = 1.065, 95% CI 1.014-1.119), age ≥ 75 years old (OR = 4.892, 95% CI 1.715-13.955), body mass index (BMI) < 18.5 (OR = 0.110, 95% CI 0.0293-0.416), number of medications being taken (OR = 1.351, 95% CI 1.163-1.570), diabetes mellitus (DM) (OR = 2.765, 95% CI 1.081-7.071) and MNA-SF ≤ 11 (OR = 7.405, 95% CI 2.732-20.072). Frailty was associated with the accumulation of risk factors. The prevalence of frailty in Japanese patients with HD was relatively lower than that previously reported in Western developed countries; however, it was extremely high compared to the general population regardless of age. Our findings suggest that frailty might be associated with an increase in the prevalence of adverse health outcomes in patients with HD.

A 25-year-old woman presented with complaints of nausea and headache. She had been treated with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt for hydrocephalus when she was 7 months old. Her bilateral optic discs showed moderate atrophy. Right visual acuity allowed only perception of hand movement and left visual acuity was 0.02 (1.2). Computed tomography (CT) showed mild ventricular dilation but no periventricular lucency. Intracranial pressure (ICP) was not high when the shunt valve was punctured. Her visual acuity deteriorated 5 days after the consultation. She was referred again 8 days after the first consultation. The bilateral optic discs were completely pale. Both pupils were dilated on admission, and the bilateral direct light reflexes were absent. The patient could slightly detect only green light stimulus. CT showed moderate enlargement of the ventricle. ICP was 47 cmH 2 O when the shunt valve was punctured. Shuntgraphy showed obstruction of the shunt at the distal end of peritoneal catheter. Emergent total shunt revision was performed. She could detect dark stimulus and the still-dilated left pupil had recovered direct light reflex on the next day. The visual acuity was 0.01 (0.7) on the left 6 months after the operation, although she was blind in the right eye and the bilateral optic discs were completely pale. Visual loss associated with shunt failure remains a major morbidity in shunted congenital hydrocephalus. Early diagnosis and shunt revision may allow visual recovery.

OBJECTIVETransient neurological events (TNEs) occur frequently in the acute phase after direct bypass surgery for moyamoya disease (MMD), but there is currently no way to predict them. FlowInsight is a specialized software for analyzing indocyanine green (ICG) videoangiography taken with a surgical microscope. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether intraoperative evaluation of local hemodynamic changes around anastomotic sites using FlowInsight could predict the incidence and duration of TNEs.METHODSFrom patients who were diagnosed with MMD in our hospital between August 2014 and March 2017 and who underwent superficial temporal artery–middle cerebral artery bypass surgery, we investigated 25 hemispheres (in 22 patients) in which intraoperative ICG analysis was performed using FlowInsight. To evaluate the local cerebral hemodynamics before and after anastomosis, regions of interest were set at 3 locations on the brain surface around the anastomotic site, and the mean cerebral blood flow (CBF), mean gradation (Grad), mean transit time (MTT), and mean time to peak (TTP) were calculated from the 3 regions of interest. Furthermore, the change rate in CBF (ΔCBF [%]) was calculated using the formula (postanastomosis mean CBF − preanastomosis mean CBF)/preanastomosis mean CBF. ΔGrad (%), ΔMTT (%), and ΔTTP (%) were similarly calculated.RESULTSPostoperative stroke without TNE occurred in 2 of the 25 hemispheres. These 2 hemispheres (in 2 patients) were excluded from the study, and data from the remaining 23 hemispheres (in 20 patients) were analyzed. For each parameter (ΔCBF, ΔGrad, ΔMTT, and ΔTTP) calculated by FlowInsight, the difference between the groups with and without TNEs was significant. The median values for ΔCBF and ΔGrad were significantly higher in the TNE group than in the no-TNE group (ΔCBF 30.13 vs 3.54, p = 0.0106; ΔGrad 62.05 vs 10.78, p = 0.00435), whereas the median values for ΔMTT and ΔTTP were significantly lower in the TNE group (ΔMTT −16.90 vs −7.393, p = 0.023; ΔTTP −29.07 vs −7.02, p = 0.00342). Comparison of the area under the curve (AUC) for each parameter showed that ΔTTP had the highest AUC and was the parameter with the highest diagnostic accuracy (AUC 0.857). The Youden index revealed that the optimal cutoff value of ΔTTP was −11.61 (sensitivity 77.8%, specificity 71.4%) as a predictor of TNEs. In addition, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients were calculated, and ΔCBF, ΔGrad, ΔMTT, and ΔTTP each showed a strong correlation with the duration of TNEs. The larger the change in each parameter, the longer the TNEs persisted.CONCLUSIONSIntraoperative ICG videoangiography findings were correlated with the occurrence and duration of TNEs after direct bypass surgery for MMD. Screening for cases at high risk of TNEs can be achieved by ICG analysis using FlowInsight.

Vascular calcification (VC) contributes to cardiovascular disease in hemodialysis (HD) patients, especially with diabetes mellitus (DM) complications. No randomized studies have been published regarding the effect of lanthanum carbonate (LC) on VC progression in DM patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of lanthanum carbonate on the progression of VC in HD patients with type 2 DM. We conducted a randomized controlled trial comparing LC with calcium carbonate (CC) in 43 HD patients at a single dialysis center. Estimations of aortic calcification index (ACI) by abdominal computed tomography were performed twice for each patient (at baseline and 12 months). Forty-one patients completed the study (19 LC, 22 CC). When ACI at baseline was ≦0.48 (median of baseline ACI), median change in ACI (Δ%ACI) was 20.44 (11.50-36.80%) in the LC group, and 40.00 (33.30-92.60%) in the CC group (P = 0.026). On the other hand, when ACI at baseline was >0.48, the median change in ACI (Δ%ACI) was 6.42 (3.13-24.40%) in the LC group, and 8.08 (5.68-12.20%) in the CC group (P = 1.000). Serum markers of chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD), HbA1c, dose of vitamin D analogues, and side-effects of medications did not change in either group throughout the study except int-PTH increased in the LC group. This study indicated that administration of LC inhibited the progression of VC in patients receiving HD for type 2 DM, only in cases of slight VC compared with CC.

No abstract