Aaron Trachtenberg, Vaishali Shenoy, Nancy Dodd, Drew Hager, Martin Karpinski, Joshua Koulack, Krista Maxwell, Andrea Mazurat, Denise Pochinco, Christie Sathianathan, James Shaw, Chris Wiebe, Peter Nickerson, Julie Ho
{"title":"Program Report: Expanding the Deceased Donor Pool in Manitoba With an Age-Targeted Kidney Transplant Program.","authors":"Aaron Trachtenberg, Vaishali Shenoy, Nancy Dodd, Drew Hager, Martin Karpinski, Joshua Koulack, Krista Maxwell, Andrea Mazurat, Denise Pochinco, Christie Sathianathan, James Shaw, Chris Wiebe, Peter Nickerson, Julie Ho","doi":"10.1177/20543581241287288","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20543581241287288","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of program: </strong>The ongoing shortage of organs for transplant combined with the highest prevalence of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in Canada has resulted in long wait times for a deceased donor transplant in Manitoba. Therefore, the Transplant Manitoba Adult Kidney Program has ongoing quality improvement initiatives to expand the deceased donor pool. This clinical transplant protocol describes an age-targeted program intended to increase the use of transplants with a kidney donor profile index (KDPI) >85 by allocating them to suitable pre-consented recipients age ≥65 with low wait times. The goal is to improve survival and quality of life for older recipients by maximizing a previously under-utilized donor pool.</p><p><strong>Sources of information: </strong>Scoping literature review; Transplant Manitoba deceased donor audit; and key stakeholder engagement with patient partners, inter-disciplinary health care providers, and health system leaders.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The alternative donor pool criteria include deceased donor kidneys with KDPI 86-100 or another concern for graft longevity but are otherwise suitable for transplantation. Patients with no living donor, age ≥65, low wait times and otherwise eligible for transplant listing will be educated, and if suitable, pre-consented for the age-targeted program. All patients remain eligible for a standard criteria donor according to the local allocation criteria. The age-targeted program waitlist follows the same provincial allocation rules using wait time, panel reactive antibody (PRA), and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match points for determining rank order. If an age-targeted recipient experiences early graft loss from a KDPI 86-100 kidney within 12 months from transplant, their cumulative wait time, including time with the transplant, will be reinstated upon relisting.</p><p><strong>Key findings: </strong>Transplant Manitoba's provincial allocation rules do not permit bypassing top of the list recipients for kidney offers; therefore, transplant providers were previously reluctant to utilize KDPI 86-100 donor kidneys to top of the list recipients eligible for higher quality kidneys. This age-targeted program facilitates allocation of KDPI 86-100 kidneys to suitable older pre-consented recipients with low wait times, who may obtain a survival and quality of life benefit from these transplants. This approach expands the utilized deceased donor pool to benefit all Manitobans awaiting a deceased donor kidney transplant.</p><p><strong>Limitations: </strong>This program was launched in January 2023, and there are no data reported on outcomes given the small numbers and abbreviated follow-up.</p><p><strong>Implications: </strong>The goal of this quality improvement project is to improve access to deceased donor kidney transplantation for Manitobans with ESKD. This program was developed with patient and provider feedback, including multimedia patient education mat","PeriodicalId":9426,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20543581241287288"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11472366/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142458603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Isabelle Ethier, Shaifali Sandal, Ahmad Raed Tarakji, S Neil Finkle, Bhavneet Kahlon, Kristen Pederson, Ratna Samanta, Caroline Stigant
{"title":"Climate Change and Environmentally Sustainable Kidney Care in Canada: A Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Survey of Kidney Care Providers.","authors":"Isabelle Ethier, Shaifali Sandal, Ahmad Raed Tarakji, S Neil Finkle, Bhavneet Kahlon, Kristen Pederson, Ratna Samanta, Caroline Stigant","doi":"10.1177/20543581241287286","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20543581241287286","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Climate change impacts health and threatens the stability of care delivery systems, while healthcare is mobilizing to reduce its significant environmental impact.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about climate change among Canadian kidney care providers.</p><p><strong>Design setting participants measurements and methods: </strong>An electronic KAP survey, created by the Canadian Society of Nephrology-Sustainable Nephrology Action Planning committee, was distributed to kidney care providers across Canada, from March to April 2023.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 516 people responded to the survey. Most respondents (79%) identified as women; 83% were aged 30 to 59 years. Nurses and nephrologists made up 44% and 23% of respondents, respectively. About half of the participants felt informed about climate change to an average degree. Most respondents (71%; 349/495 and 62%; 300/489) were either extremely or very concerned about climate change and waste generated in their kidney care program, respectively. The vast majority of respondents (89%; 441/495) reported taking steps to lower their personal carbon footprint. People who felt more informed about climate change presented higher degrees of concern. Similarly, both those who felt more informed and those who reported higher degrees of concern about climate change were more likely to take steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Over 80% of respondents (314/386) were at least moderately interested in learning sessions about environmentally sustainable initiatives in care.</p><p><strong>Limitations: </strong>This survey is at risk of social acceptability, representative, and subjective bias. Overrepresentation from Quebec and British Columbia, as well as the majority of respondents identifying as women and working in academic centers, may affect generalizability of the findings.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Most kidney care providers who responded to this survey are informed and concerned about climate change, and their knowledge is directly associated with attitude and practices. This indicates that educational initiatives to increase awareness and knowledge on climate change will likely lead to practice changes.</p>","PeriodicalId":9426,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20543581241287286"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11462604/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142388281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Reid Whitlock, Kerry MacDonald, Navdeep Tangri, Michael Walsh, David Collister
{"title":"The Efficacy and Safety of Bisphosphonate Therapy for Osteopenia/Osteoporosis in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review and Individual Patient-Level Meta-Analysis of Placebo-Controlled Randomized Trials.","authors":"Reid Whitlock, Kerry MacDonald, Navdeep Tangri, Michael Walsh, David Collister","doi":"10.1177/20543581241283523","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20543581241283523","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The efficacy and safety of bisphosphonate therapy for the treatment of osteoporosis and osteopenia in the setting of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is unclear.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To determine the effect of bisphosphonate therapy on fractures, bone mineral density (BMD), and adverse events in adults across the spectrum of CKD and dialysis.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Systematic review and individual patient-level meta-analysis.</p><p><strong>Setting: </strong>Searches of Ageline, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Medline from inception to August 25, 2016, supplemented with manual screening and clinicalstudydatarequest.com. Authors were contacted for individual patient-level data.</p><p><strong>Patients: </strong>Randomized, placebo-controlled trials with 100 or more participants that evaluated the treatment of primary osteoporosis/osteopenia in adult men and women with bisphosphonate therapy.</p><p><strong>Measurements: </strong>Study characteristics, quality, and data were assessed independently by 2 reviewers. Outcome measures were fractures, BMD, and adverse events including decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and hypocalcemia (calcium <2.00 mmol/L).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Single-stage individual patient-level meta-analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 39 eligible studies, individual patient-level data was available for 7 studies, all of which were studies of ibandronate. Of 7428 participants (5010 ibandronate, 2418 placebo), 100% were female, 98.6% were white, the mean body mass index was 25.7 kg/m<sup>2</sup> (SD 3.9), 18.9% were smokers and there were 740 fracture events. The mean eGFR was 69.1 mL/min/1.73 m<sup>2</sup> (SD 15.9) including 14.5%, 54.9%, 27.5%, 3.0%, and 0.2% stages G1, G2, G3A, G3B, and G4 CKD. Ibandronate increased hip and lumbar spine BMD and decreased the risk of fracture in the overall population (hazard ratio (HR) 0.871, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.746, 1.018) but in patients with stage G3B CKD, it increased the risk of fracture (HR 3.862, 95% CI 1.156, 12.903). Ibandronate did not impact eGFR over 12 months but increased the risk of hypocalcemia (HR 1.324, 95% CI 1.056, 1.660) with no evidence of any effect modification by CKD stage (all tests of interaction <i>p</i> > 0.05).</p><p><strong>Limitations: </strong>Clinically significant heterogeneity among studies, lack of long-term follow-up and bone biopsy results, limited representation of stage G4 and G5 CKD patients.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Chronic kidney disease potentially modifies the efficacy but not the safety of bisphosphonate therapy in osteopenia and osteoporosis.</p><p><strong>Registration: </strong>PROSPERO CRD42020145613.</p>","PeriodicalId":9426,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20543581241283523"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11459530/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142388283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carol Wang, Kyla L Naylor, Eric McArthur, Jessica M Sontrop, Pavel Roshanov, Ngan N Lam, Sarah D McDonald, Krista L Lentine, James King, Erik Youngson, Joseph Beyene, Elizabeth Hendren, Amit X Garg
{"title":"Pregnancy Outcomes in Living Kidney Donors: Protocol of a Population-Based Cohort Study in Three Canadian Provinces.","authors":"Carol Wang, Kyla L Naylor, Eric McArthur, Jessica M Sontrop, Pavel Roshanov, Ngan N Lam, Sarah D McDonald, Krista L Lentine, James King, Erik Youngson, Joseph Beyene, Elizabeth Hendren, Amit X Garg","doi":"10.1177/20543581241284030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20543581241284030","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>A substantial proportion of living kidney donors are women of childbearing age. Some prior studies report a higher risk of gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia in living kidney donors compared with nondonors. Further research is needed to better quantify the risk of adverse maternal, fetal/infant, and neonatal outcomes attributable to living kidney donation.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To determine the risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, and eclampsia, and other maternal and fetal/infant outcomes in living kidney donors compared with a matched group of nondonors of similar baseline health.</p><p><strong>Design and setting: </strong>Protocol for a population-based, matched cohort study using Canadian administrative health care databases. The protocol will be run separately in 3 provinces, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, and results will be combined statistically using meta-analysis.</p><p><strong>Participants: </strong>The cohort will include women aged 18 to 48 years who donated a kidney between July 1992 and March 2022 and had at least one postdonation singleton pregnancy of ≥20 weeks gestation between January 1993 and February 2023. We expect to include at least 150 living kidney donors with over 200 postdonation pregnancies from Ontario and a similar number of donors and pregnancies across Alberta and British Columbia combined. Nondonors will include women from the general population with at least one pregnancy of ≥20 weeks gestation between January 1993 and February 2023. Nondonors will be randomly assigned cohort entry dates based on the distribution of nephrectomy dates in donors. The sample of nondonors will be restricted to those aged 18 to 48 years on their cohort entry dates with delivery dates at least 6 months after their assigned entry dates. A concern with donor and nondonor comparisons is that donors are healthier than the general population. To reduce this concern, we will also apply 30+ exclusion criteria to further restrict the nondonor group so that they have similar health measures at cohort entry as the donors. Donor and nondonor pregnancies will then be matched (1:4) on 5 potential confounders: delivery date, maternal age at delivery date, time between cohort entry and delivery date, neighborhood income quintile, and parity at delivery date.</p><p><strong>Measurements: </strong>The primary outcome will be a composite of maternal gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, or eclampsia. Secondary maternal outcomes will include components of the primary outcome, early pre-eclampsia, severe maternal morbidity, cesarean section, postpartum hemorrhage, and gestational diabetes. Fetal/infant/neonatal outcomes will include premature birth/low birth weight, small for gestational age, neonatal intensive care unit admission, stillbirth, and neonatal death.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The primary unit of analysis will be the ","PeriodicalId":9426,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20543581241284030"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11459540/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142388282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alex Derstenfeld, Rosalie-Sélène Meunier, Josée Bouchard, Alexandra Mereniuk
{"title":"Multiple Pyoderma Gangrenosum Overlying AV Fistula Treated With Colchicine: A Case Report.","authors":"Alex Derstenfeld, Rosalie-Sélène Meunier, Josée Bouchard, Alexandra Mereniuk","doi":"10.1177/20543581241284749","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20543581241284749","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Rationale: </strong>Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare neutrophilic dermatosis which gives rise to painful ulcers. Pyoderma gangrenosum can be triggered by trauma, a phenomenon called pathergy. Here, we report the first case of PG arising from pathergy due to needle insertion overlying an arteriovenous fistula (AVF). This case report seeks to inform nephrologists about PG, this yet unreported presentation, and management in the context of hemodialysis.</p><p><strong>Presenting concerns: </strong>A 69-year-old woman presented to dermatology clinic for erythemato-violaceous plaques with central ulceration at the site of needle insertion overlying her AVF. The patient was known for chronic renal insufficiency secondary to C3 glomerulonephritis, for which she received hemodialysis. After an accidental burn which lead to appearance of a painful ulcer, following each needle insertion for hemodialysis, she would develop an erythematous papule that progressed to a painful ulcer with erythematous-violaceous borders.</p><p><strong>Diagnosis: </strong>Pyoderma gangrenosum was clinically diagnosed and both clinical and paraclinical evaluation did not reveal any secondary cause of PG.</p><p><strong>Intervention: </strong>Dialysis via AVF was suspended due to the risk of triggering more PG and was temporarily pursued by central venous catheter. The patient was initially treated with prednisone and topical corticosteroids. Furthermore, owing to the high recurrence rate of PG, colchicine was initiated in prevention to avoid resorting to immunosuppressive or long-term corticotherapy.</p><p><strong>Outcomes: </strong>The patient's lesions improved on prednisone, which was then tapered over 1 month. Following prednisone taper and continuing improvement of PG on colchicine and topical corticosteroids alone, the decision was taken to recommence dialysis via AVF after performing a negative pathergy test. Topical corticosteroids were ceased due to the risk of cutaneous atrophy and were replaced by pimecrolimus ointment. The patient has continued dialysis via AVF ever since, without recurrence.</p><p><strong>Novel finding: </strong>This is the first case reported of PG arising from pathergy due to needle insertion overlying an AVF. Colchicine may be a safe and effective therapy for long-term treatment of PG in the context of hemodialysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":9426,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20543581241284749"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11456213/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142380087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Josephine Ho, Jennifer Harrison, Marisa Battistella
{"title":"Cannabis Use, Perspectives, and Experiences Among Patients Receiving Hemodialysis: A Descriptive Patient Survey.","authors":"Josephine Ho, Jennifer Harrison, Marisa Battistella","doi":"10.1177/20543581241274002","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20543581241274002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Patients with chronic kidney disease experience high burden of symptoms, negatively affecting their quality of life. Medication therapy is often initiated to address these symptoms but is limited by variable efficacy and high pill burden. There is interest among clinicians and patients to explore cannabis and cannabinoids as an alternative treatment to manage symptoms related to kidney disease.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The objectives were to characterize cannabis use among patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis (HD), to describe patient perspectives on cannabis, and to explore patient experiences with their kidney health care team related to cannabis.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>This was a descriptive, cross-sectional paper-based patient survey.</p><p><strong>Setting/participants: </strong>Patients receiving maintenance HD at Toronto General Hospital in the ambulatory setting between July and August 2020 were included.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A 33-item questionnaire was developed to address the study questions based on existing cannabis questionnaires and input from kidney specialist physicians, pharmacists, kidney nurse practitioners, and patients. The questionnaire was distributed to patients during their in-center HD session. Patients who chose to participate in the study completed the questionnaire and returned it to the study team.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, there were 52 respondents, of which 11 (21%) reported cannabis use in the preceding 3 months, and 23 (44%) reported historical cannabis use. Baseline characteristics were similar between those who used cannabis and those who did not, with a possible trend of cannabis users being younger. The most commonly reported reasons for using cannabis were recreation and symptom management. Those who reported using cannabis for symptom management were doing so without medical authorization or documentation. Common symptoms that cannabis was used to self-treat were insomnia, anxiety, and/or non-neuropathic pain. Dried flower was the most common type of product used, and smoking was the most common route. Care gaps and opportunities to improve patient care related to cannabis use were identified, related to monitoring and management of adverse effects, management of drug interactions, harm reduction strategies, informed decision-making, and prescriber education.</p><p><strong>Limitations: </strong>The overall participation rate was low, at approximately 17%, possibly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of interest, or fear of revealing cannabis use. Non-response bias is a possible limitation as this was a voluntary survey. The questionnaire was limited to multiple-choice and Likert scale questions, therefore limiting the depth of patient responses.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study showed that cannabis use among patients receiving HD is common and comparable with the general population. Patients may be using cannab","PeriodicalId":9426,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20543581241274002"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11418350/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142307098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shuaib Hafid, Sarina R Isenberg, Aleisha Fernandes, Erin Gallagher, Colleen Webber, Meera Joseph, Manish M Sood, Adrianna Bruni, Janet L Davis, Grace Warmels, James Downar, Anastasia Gayowsky, Aaron Jones, Doug Manuel, Peter Tanuseputro, Michelle Howard
{"title":"End-of-Life Care Among Patients With Kidney Failure on Maintenance Dialysis: A Retrospective Population-Based Study.","authors":"Shuaib Hafid, Sarina R Isenberg, Aleisha Fernandes, Erin Gallagher, Colleen Webber, Meera Joseph, Manish M Sood, Adrianna Bruni, Janet L Davis, Grace Warmels, James Downar, Anastasia Gayowsky, Aaron Jones, Doug Manuel, Peter Tanuseputro, Michelle Howard","doi":"10.1177/20543581241280698","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20543581241280698","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Nephrologists routinely provide end-of-life care for patients with kidney failure (KF) on maintenance dialysis. Involvement of primary care and palliative care physicians may enhance this experience.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The objective was to describe outpatient care patterns in the last year of life and the end-of-life acute care utilization for patients with KF on maintenance dialysis.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Retrospective cohort study using population-level health administrative data.</p><p><strong>Setting & participants: </strong>Outpatient and inpatient care during the last year of life among patients who died between 2017 and 2019, receiving maintenance dialysis in Ontario, Canada.</p><p><strong>Measurements: </strong>The primary exposure is patterns of physician specialties providing outpatient care in the last year of life. Outcomes include outpatient encounters in the last year of life, acute care visitation in the last month of life, and place of death.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We reported the count and percentage of categorical outcomes and the median (interquartile range) for numeric outcomes. We produced time series plots of the mean monthly percentage of encounters to different specialties stratified by physician specialty patterns. We evaluated differences in outcomes by physician specialty patterns using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's chi-square tests (<i>P</i> < .05, two-tailed).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 6866 patients, the median age at death was 73, 36.1% were female, and 87.8% resided in urban regions. Three patterns emerged: a primary care, nephrology, and palliative care triad (25.5%); a primary care and nephrology dyad (59.3%); and a non-primary care pattern (15.2%). Palliative care involvement is concentrated near death. Of all, 81.4% spent at least 1 day in hospital or emergency department in the last month, but those with primary care, palliative care, and nephrology involvement had the fewest acute care deaths (65.8%).</p><p><strong>Limitations: </strong>Outpatient care patterns were defined using physician billing codes, potentially missing care from other providers.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Nephrology and primary care predominantly manage outpatient care in the last year of life for patients with KF on maintenance dialysis, with consistent acute care use across care patterns except for the place of death. Future research should explore associations between patterns of care and end-of-life outcomes to identify the most optimal model of care for patients with KF on maintenance dialysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":9426,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20543581241280698"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11418337/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142307100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Leahora Rotteau, Samuel Vaillancourt, Mercedes Magaz, Lisha Lo, Brian M Wong, Jehan Lalani, Sam D Shemie, Samara Zavalkoff
{"title":"Characteristics and Practices of High-Performing Centers in Organ Donor Identification and Referral: A Qualitative Study.","authors":"Leahora Rotteau, Samuel Vaillancourt, Mercedes Magaz, Lisha Lo, Brian M Wong, Jehan Lalani, Sam D Shemie, Samara Zavalkoff","doi":"10.1177/20543581241276362","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20543581241276362","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The identification and referral (ID&R) of potential organ donors to provincial organ donation organizations (ODOs) is a critical first step in the organ donation process. However, even in provinces with mandatory referral legislation, there remains variability in ID&R rates across critical care units, with some units demonstrating high performance despite experiencing similar constraints associated with existing structures, policies, and practices.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>We sought to identify the enablers and specific strategies that high-performing critical care units leveraged to achieve their exceptional performance.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>We conducted a descriptive qualitative study to inform ID&R improvement efforts as part of a positive deviance initiative.</p><p><strong>Setting: </strong>We identified three high-performing critical care units as study sites.</p><p><strong>Participants: </strong>Clinicians working in identified critical care units.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>At each site, we interviewed clinical team members about their perceptions and experiences of ID&R. Data analysis followed a thematic analysis approach.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We outline three themes describing how the high-performing hospitals achieve strong ID&R practices. First, all units demonstrated a high degree of integration between the concepts of high-quality end-of-life care and organ donation. Team members were consistently notified of successful transplants stemming from their unit, and all missed ID&Rs were tracked and discussed. Second, participants described a team approach with strong medical leadership, where all team members embrace their role in ensuring that no potential donor is missed. Finally, the units adopted strategies to support and simplify ID&R such as collectively simplifying triggers for referral, developing strong working relationships with provincial donor coordinators, and creating informal avenues of communication between clinicians and donor coordinators.</p><p><strong>Limitations: </strong>The lack of comparable data for potential organ donor referral rates across Canada impacted our ability to identify high-performing hospitals based on data. Instead, we contacted the ODOs directly to identify high-performing units that met our criteria. Second, our study sample was limited to three hospital sites from three different provinces and the three hospitals perform organ recovery and transplant on-site.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Critical care units can adopt strategies and implement interventions to support ID&R improvement efforts. We provide examples informed by this study. We also highlight considerations that require attention when engaging in this work such as ensuring that all team members are aware of changes in care plans and physicians consistently engage in discussions about organ donation. Local medical leadership is critical to supporting these changes.","PeriodicalId":9426,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20543581241276362"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11418359/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142307099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jennifer Horwitz, Katelyn Roberts, Stephanie Canning, Douglas Mcintosh, Deborah Zimmerman
{"title":"The Use of Sucroferric Oxyhydroxide Prior to Sigmoidoscopy in Patients With End-Stage Kidney Disease: A Case Report.","authors":"Jennifer Horwitz, Katelyn Roberts, Stephanie Canning, Douglas Mcintosh, Deborah Zimmerman","doi":"10.1177/20543581241273998","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20543581241273998","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Rationale: </strong>Sucroferric oxyhydroxide is an iron-based phosphate-binding medication that has been approved for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with end-stage kidney disease. Given the low overall iron release from the polynuclear iron(III)-oxyhydroxide molecule, recommendations regarding its use prior to colonoscopy/sigmoidoscopy have not been developed.</p><p><strong>Presenting concerns of the patient: </strong>A 51-year-old male with a known history of end-stage renal disease treated with hemodialysis was referred to Gastroenterology for consideration of colonoscopy to rule out malignancy because of a history of rectal bleeding. This was to be completed prior to proceeding with a living-donor kidney transplant.</p><p><strong>Diagnoses: </strong>Flexible sigmoidoscopy done after non-diagnostic colonoscopy demonstrated diffuse \"charcoal-like\" material that prevented adequate visualization of the bowel despite standard bowel preparation. The findings were believed to be secondary to the use of sucroferric oxyhydroxide prescribed for hyperphosphatemia.</p><p><strong>Interventions: </strong>The patient was subsequently instructed to discontinue sucroferric oxyhydroxide for 2 weeks prior to his repeat sigmoidoscopy procedure.</p><p><strong>Outcomes: </strong>The patient's repeat sigmoidoscopy after discontinuing sucroferric oxyhydroxide allowed for adequate bowel visualization that revealed only a benign lipoma.</p><p><strong>Teaching points: </strong>This case demonstrates the potential for sucroferric oxyhydroxide use to result in poor bowel preparation and resulting inadequate visualization on lower gastrointestinal endoscopy. It serves to highlight the clinical implications leading to the need for repeated procedures, which contributes to resource waste and unnecessary costs to the healthcare system, as well as delays in diagnostic evaluation required for transplantation; patient frustration was evident.</p>","PeriodicalId":9426,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20543581241273998"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11406624/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142280593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Letter to the Editor in Response to the Article \"Clinical Outcomes With Medium Cut-Off Versus High-Flux Hemodialysis Membranes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis\".","authors":"Mehmet Riza Altiparmak, Serkan Feyyaz Yalin","doi":"10.1177/20543581241278843","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20543581241278843","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9426,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20543581241278843"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11388295/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142280592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}