Hospitalization to initiate hemodialysis (HD) through temporary catheterization and subsequent creation of permanent vascular access (VA) is costly. Therefore, we studied the influence of the timing of VA creation on medical expenses, length of stay (LOS) and 1-year primary patency rate in incident HD patients. We analyzed the medical expenses associated with hospitalization and LOS at VA creation in 486 incident HD patients at two hospitals in southern Taiwan. Patients with early VA creation, more than 1 month before HD initiation, were defined as the Planned group (n = 70); less than 1 month as the Delayed group (n = 48); and those with VA creation after the initiation of HD as the Urgent group (n = 368). The Urgent group had the highest inpatient medical expenses and LOS compared with the other two groups. Multiple regression analyses of inpatient medical expenses and LOS showed that the timing of VA creation, the type of VA, marital and employment status and the number of comorbidities were significant factors responsible for the differences between groups. Furthermore, higher inpatient medical expenses and longer LOS in the Urgent group were noted in the arteriovenous fistula and arteriovenous graft subgroups. Kaplan-Meier Survival analysis showed that the 1-year primary patency rate was highest in the Delayed group and lowest in the Planned group, while Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the type of VA, but not the timing of VA creation, was a significant risk factor for VA patency. Arteriovenous graft had a higher risk for occlusion than arteriovenous fistula. In conclusion, planned VA creation before the initiation of HD is associated with lower inpatient medical expenses and shorter LOS, which should be promoted for pre-end-stage renal disease care, but the care for VA should be further emphasized before the progression to end-stage renal disease, and the patency of the VA should be cautiously monitored.

Background Depression is common in dialysis patients, but the clinical impact of this condition is poorly defined. Methods Out of 57,703 patients starting dialysis during 2000–2007 recorded in the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, we identified 2,475 patients with a clinical diagnosis of depression, and compared them with 1:5 age- and sex-matched patients without a depression diagnosis (n = 12,375). Patients were followed up for hospitalisation due to severe infections, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and death. Multivariable Cox regression and competing risk analyses (accounting for death when appropriate) were used to estimate risk associations. Results Patients with depression had a higher frequency of comorbidities. During a mean follow-up of 3.2 years, 1,140 severe infections, 806 MACE, and 1,121 deaths were recorded. Compared to controls, patients with depression were at increased risk of death (adjusted hazard ratio 1.24; 95%CI 1.16–1.33). Patients with depression were also at higher risk of severe (1.14; 1.06–1.22) and fatal infections (death within 30 days, 1.22; 1.09–1.35), attributed mainly to sepsis (1.19; 1.08–1.31), septic shock (1.36; 1.13–1.62) and pneumonia (1.19; 1.07–1.33). Conversely, no association was observed between depression and the MACE risk (1.04; 0.94–1.15). Conclusion Dialysis patients with depression are associated with increased risk of infections and death.

Autosomal Dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common inherited adult kidney disease. Although ADPKD is primarily caused by PKD1 and PKD2, the identification of several novel causative genes in recent years has revealed more complex genetic heterogeneity than previously thought. To study the disease-causing mutations of ADPKD, a total of 920 families were collected and their diagnoses were established via clinical and image studies by Taiwan PKD Consortium investigators. Amplicon-based library preparation with next-generation sequencing, variant calling, and bioinformatic analysis was used to identify disease-causing mutations in the cohort. Microsatellite analysis along with genotyping and haplotype analysis was performed in the PKD2 p.Arg803* family members. The age of mutation was calculated to estimate the time at which the mutation occurred or the founder arrived in Taiwan. Disease-causing mutations were identified in 634 families (68.9%) by detection of 364 PKD1, 239 PKD2, 18 PKHD1, 7 GANAB, and 6 ALG8 pathogenic variants. 162 families (17.6%) had likely causative but non-diagnostic variants of unknown significance (VUS). A single PKD2 p.Arg803* mutation was found in 17.8% (164/920) of the cohort in Taiwan. Microsatellite and array analysis showed that 80% of the PKD2 p.Arg803* families shared the same haplotype in a 250 kb region, indicating those families may originate from a common ancestor 300 years ago. Our findings provide a mutation landscape as well as evidence that a founder effect exists and has contributed to a major percentage of the ADPKD population in Taiwan.