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    Pharmacotherapeutic options for the prevention of kidney transplant rejection: the evidence to date
    (Informa UK Limited, 2022-08)
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    Although early rejection episodes are successfully controlled, the problem of unrecognized production of de novo anti-HLA antibodies and associated chronic rejection still persists.
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    COVID 19 Pneumonia and a Rare Form of Fungal Peritonitis in a Patient Survivor on Peritoneal Dialysis
    (Walter de Gruyter GmbH / Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2021-12-30)
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    Peritoneal dialysis (PD) related peritonitis is usually caused by bacteria, but viruses and fungi could also affect the peritoneal membrane and cause cloudy effluent with negative bacterial cultures. We present a case of a PD patient who survived fungal peritonitis caused by Geotrichum klebahnii (March 2015) and COVID-19 pneumonia (April 2021) with peritonitis probably caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The fungal peritonitis followed one episode of exit-site infection and two episodes of bacterial peritonitis treated with a wide-spectrum antibiotic. The patient's PD catheter was removed immediately upon the diagnosis of fungal peritonitis, and an antifungal treatment was continued for 3 weeks after catheter removal. The new peritoneal catheter was reinserted 8 weeks after complete resolution of peritonitis, and the patient continued treatment with PD. The patient developed severe Covid-19 pneumonia with a sudden appearance of cloudy peritoneal effluent. There was no bacterial or fungal growth on the effluent culture. A PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 in peritoneal effluent was not performed. The peritoneal effluent became transparent with the resolution of the severe symptoms of Covid-19 pneumonia.
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    KIDNEY FUNCTION DECLINE AND MORTALITY IN DONORS WITH EXPANDED CRITERIA - FIVE YEARS FOLLOW UP STUDY
    (Macedonian Association of Anatomists and Morphologists, 2024)
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    Kidney donors are considered healthy, but with a need for continued medical follow up and encouragement for continued healthy lifestyle, especially when expanded criteria for donation are applied. This study aims to analyse the five years follow up of kidney donors after explanation, encountering risks of kidney function decline and donors’ mortality. In a retrospective study we evaluated a donor cohort with 5 years of follow up. Demographic characteristics as age, gender and the presence comorbidities as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and Body Mass Index (BMI) >30kg/m2 were analyzed. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) by CKD EPI formula was notified prior donation, and annually afterwards. Consultations with nephrologist or other specialists were notified. In a multivariate regression analysis, the reduction ratio (RR) of eGFR was explored as dependent variable. Cox regression analysis exploited mortality; Kaplan Meier survival curve was applied in respect of BMI. Seventy-five donors with average age above 55 years were predominantly women (69%), nearly every nineth patient had diabetes or obesity (9%). Proportion of donors referred to nephrologist at the 12 months, declined up to 58% at the fifth year, ignoring medical checks showed ascending trend to 16% at the end of second and third year and 12% at the end of observational period. The univariate regression analysis found diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypertension, the presence of multiple comorbidities, gender and age as insignificant predictors of eGFR 12 months reduction ratio. The nephrologist referral showed borderline significance (β = - 0.103, p=0.076). Only BMI over 30kg/m2 worsened the kidney function (β = 0.600, p=0.001). Five years mortality rate was 6.7%. The diseased donors were significantly older, more frequently had diabetes and obesity also they had significantly lower eGFR pre-donation, at the end of the first year but also and more step decline of it after 12 months. In the multivariate analysis BMI>30kg/m2 emerged as most powerful predictor of mortality (HR 40.02; CI: [4.11-389), p=0.0001). Survival of obese patients was significantly shorter when compared with patients with lower body weight (43.28 ± 7.51 vs. 59.33±0.65, Log rank p=0.000), respectively. Our study demonstrates that the mortality and declination of renal function after donation are associated with nephrologist referral and other potentially modifiable factors, especially obesity. Improved protocols for pre-donation information, education and adequate after-donation follow up is mandatory to achieve better longevity and kidney function survival in these frail and precious individuals.
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    LOWER SERUM POTASSIUM LEVEL IS ASSOCIATED WITH MORTALITY AS CONFOUNDING EFFECT OF MALNUTRITION IN DIALYSIS PATIENTS
    (Macedonian Association of Anatomists and Physiologists, 2019)
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    Pavleska Kuzmanovska, Svetlana
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    Introduction: Obtaining normal serum potassium level is an important goal in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Hyperkalemia is known to be associated with mortality. In this study we aimed to assess the relationship between pre-dialysis potassium level, nutritional status and survival in dialysis patients. Materials and methods: This study used annual cohorts of hemodialysis patients with 36 months of follow-up. To determine the impact of potassium level on mortality, patients were followed from the first potassium measurement until death or a censoring event; hypokalemia was defined by potassium levels below median level - 5.5 mmol/l and albumin level below 35g/l was considered as an index for undernourished. Time-dependent Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to estimate the association between potassium level and mortality. Results: A total of 199 patients were included in the study. Mean age was approximately 56 years, about 59% were men and 23% had end-stage renal disease caused by diabetes. Albumin below 35 g/l was observed in 26 (13%) patients. In the follow-up period 53 (26%) patients died, consisting of 31 (31%) of the 101 hypokalemic and 22 (22%) of 98 hyperkalemic patients. The Kaplan-Meier survival rate was significantly better in the hyperkalemic population (34.300.71 vs. 31.061.16, p=0.051). Hypokalemia, when defined as serum potassium 5.5 mmol/l, was associated with all-cause mortality (hazards ratio (HR) 1.857, 95% CI 0.986-3.496, p = 0.051). The significance was lost in the model after adjustment for albumin level. Only albumin level determined mortality (p=0.03). Conclusion: Lower potassium level was associated with all-cause mortality, but only as a confounding effect of malnutrition in dialysis patients
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    P1102EVALUATION THE EFFICACY OF MEDIUM CUT- OFF MEMBRANE DIALYZERS AND COMPARISON WITH HIGH FLUX DIALYZERS IN CONVENTIONAL HEMODIALYSIS
    (Oxford University Press (OUP), 2020-06-01)
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    Biljali, Sefedin
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    Hemodialysis (HD) is the most widely used modality of renal replacement therapy. The high-flux dialyzers in standard hemodialysis offer numerous benefits for ESRD patients, such as, increasing the uremic toxins removal and improving patients survival, reduced patients admission and morbidity. A new class of membranes, medium cut-off (MCO) membranes, has been designed to achieve better removal capacities for middle and large middle molecules, as well as to ensure the retention of albumin in hemodialysis (HD) treatments. We evaluated the removal efficacy of Theranova® in standard HD in comparison with standard high- flux HD.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Method</jats:title> <jats:p>Four stable HD patients (M/F 1/4) were included in 12-weeks small observational pilot study in HD with Theranova® 400 (sup. 1.7 m2) and Theranova® 500 (sup. 2.0 m2) dialyzers. Each patient was assessed four times, T0 with standard high flux dialyzers, T1 at 1 month, T2 at second month and T3 at third month, by measuring pre and post-HD samples of: urea, creatinine, beta2-microglobilin (B2M), myoglobin, albumin and FLC-k, FLC-λ . Data are reported as mean ± standard deviation (SD). The removal rates of uremic toxins are expressed as percentages.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>The average removal rates for the uremic toxins with standard high-flux membranes were 18.4% for B2M, 14.3% for Myoglobin, 19.8 % for FLC-k and 17.4 % for FLC-λ. The data showed a higher average removal rate for all the uremic toxins with Theranova® dialyzers for B2M, Myoglobin, FLC-k and FLC-λ (62.7%, 56.9%, 63.5%, 54.6%, respectively) during the 3 months of follow up. The using of Theranova® dialyzers in standard HD was enough to significantly decrease the pre-dialysis value of Urea (17.72 ± 2.26 vs 13.75 ± 3.75, p=0.001), Creatinine (700.50 ± 315.07 vs 570.00 ± 206.64, p=0.021), B2M (40.90 ± 11.00 vs 29.00 ± 4.64, p=0.005), FLC-k (267.25 ± 113.28 vs 225.25 ± 100.62, p=0.018), FLC-λ (324.25 ± 116.12 vs 215.23 ± 64.44, p=0.011), Myoglobin ( 199.96 ± 124.41 vs 137.00 ± 83.14, p= 0.049). Finally, albumin retention was observed with Theranova® dialyzers, between T0 and T3 it increased significantly (40.50 ± 4.79 vs 42.25 ± 4.50, p=0.0001).</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title> <jats:p>Compared to high-flux dialysis membranes, novel medium cut-off (MCO) membranes show greater permeability for larger middle molecules in mid -term report. But the long term analysis and larger number of patients is necessary to evaluate a clinical significance of this innovative therapy.</jats:p> </jats:sec>
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    Active Smoking is Associated with Lower Dialysis Adequacy in Prevalent Dialysis Patients
    (Scientific Foundation Spiroski (publications), 2019-11-15)
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    Mladenovska, Daniela
    Dialysis adequacy measured by single pool Kt/V (spKt/V) lower than 1.2 or urea reduction rate (URR) lower than 65% is associated with a significant increase in patient mortality rate. Patients' adherence to the medical treatment is crucial to achieve recommended targets for spKt/V. Smoking is a recognized factor of non-adherence.
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    Impact of preoperative arterial and venous diameter on achievement of the adequate blood flow in arteriovenous fistula for hemodialysis
    (Wiley, 2020-06)
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    An arteriovenous fistula (AVF) remains the best choice of vascular access (VA) for hemodialysis (HD). The aim of the study was to determine the factors associated with the achievement of adequate blood flow (BF) of AVFs at the 4th week after creation. Created AVFs in 63 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 4/5 and CKD stage 5 on hemodialysis (CKD5D) were analyzed in a prospective study. Doppler ultrasound (DUS) was used for measuring the diameter of the radial artery, the brachial artery and the cephalic vein before AVF creation. The BF of AVF was calculated by DUS at the 4th week after creation and adequate BF was defined as ≥ 600 mL/min. The average age of patients was 61.31 ± 12.9 years. An adequate BF of AVF at the 4th week after creation was achieved in 43.54% of patients. The BF of AVF measured in male patients was significantly higher compared to the BF of AVF obtained in females (576.03 mL/min vs 375.12 mL/min, P = 0.004). The diameter of the blood vessels with achieved adequate BF was significantly larger compared to the diameter of the blood vessels without adequate BF (radial artery: 2.45 mm vs 2.03 mm, P = 0.000; brachial artery: 4.78 mm vs 4.06 mm, P = 0.001 and cephalic vein: 3.12 mm vs 2.83 mm P =  0.018). The gender and the diameter of the blood vessels before AVF creation were significantly associated with achievement of adequate BF of AVF at the 4th week of creation.
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    ANNUAL CHANGE OF ESTIMATED GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS
    (Macedonian Association of Anatomists and Morphologists, 2024)
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    Karanfilovikj, Angela
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    Nikolov, Panche
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    Bedzheti, Blerim
    Physiologically, GFR level should be stable up to the end of the fifth decade of life. When measured more frequently, wide dispersion of GFR results have been seen, but, after 5th decade GFR is expected to reduce by 1ml/min/1,73m2 yearly. The aim of this study was to calculate the change of estimated GFR on annual level and its correlations in healthy individuals. This was a retrospective observational study on 62 healthy subjects during 6 years. Demographical characteristics as gender, age, BMI, obesity (defined as BMI above 30kg/m2) and annual creatinine were obtained from medical files at the general practitioner. Serum creatinine level was measured at one biochemical laboratory. eGFR was calculated with CKD EPI formula. Calculation of the mean annual GFR change (δGFR) was done through the method of data smoothing. Statistics: Continuous variables are shown as average and standard deviation and the nominal ones with number and percent. GFR change was correlated with age and BMI. Comparative analyses of δGFR in relation to gender and obesity was done by non-parametric Mann-Whiney U test. P was considered significant if less than 0.05. Mean age of the study group was 39.5 years, dominantly male (78%). Mean BMI was 26,3 ± 3.81 kg/m2, 13% were obese. The mean annual GFR fluctuated (101.8 ± 5.56; 108.0 ± 31.04; 102.8 ± 18.28;103.2 ± 20.49; 99.10 ± 24.28; 103.55 ± 20.74 mL/min/1.73m2, respectively). The δGFR median value was 2.3 mL/min/1.73m2 with range of -23 to +20, and its correlations with age and BMI were insignificant (r= -0.058, p=0.681, r= 0.128, p=0.111, respectively). The δGFR did not differ significantly between genders and obese vs nonobese subjects (p=0.577; p=0.768, respectively). This study demonstrated that annual GFR change wasn’t correlated to age, gender and BMI. It also elucidated the fact of a high variable eGFR levels and its annual decline in presumed healthy persons. This fact emphasizes the need for thorough evaluation of the candidates for kidney donors, especially when applying the expanded criteria.
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    Enterorrhagia Presented in Patient with Granulomatosis and Polyangitis - A Case Report
    (Macedonian Society of Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation and Artifical Organs, Department of Nephrology, 2022)
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    Vesna Ristovska
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    Introduction. ANCA - associated vasculitis (AAV) as a term includes: microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). GPA is characterised by formation of granulomas and inflammation of small and medium-sized vessels leading to organ dysfunction, with a predilection for respiratory tract and kidneys. Gastrointestinal (GI) involvement happens rarely in GPA but when affected, has a poor prognosis. Case report. We report a case of 50-year-old male with GPA who presents with pulmonary and renal syndrome, along with enterorrhagia due to GI vasculitis. The patient was treated with: hemodialysis, pulse methylprednisolone, cyclophosphamide, and plasmapheresis. Our systematic review of the literature found only a few case reports where gastrointestinal symptoms were one of the first signs of GPA, however, this entity might be more frequent if physicians would think of this possibility more often. Conclusion. In cases of high clinical suspicion of GI involvement in GPA, an early aggressive immunosuppressive therapy and eventual surgical intervention remains the cornerstone of the management.
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    Challenging Case of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in a 19- Year Old Female: A Case Report
    (Macedonian Society of Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation and Artifical Organs, Department of Nephrology, 2022)
    Spasovska Vasilova, Adrijana
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    Milenkova, Mimoza
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    Introduction. In comparison to older adults, SARSCoV-2, leads to a mild illness in children and young adults typically manifested with fever, cough and gastrointestinal symptoms. However, the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and young adults (MISC) emerged during the coronavirus disease in 2019 pandemic. Case report. We report a challenging case of a 19- year old female patient with signs and symptoms of multisystem inflammatory syndrome and SARS-CoV2 infection, most probably as a post infectious disease with onset between 2 to 4 weeks after the infection. Its clinical symptoms may have overlaped with classical Kawasaki disease (systemic vasculitis) or Kawasakilike syndrome (atypical) with fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rash, conjunctival injection, hypotension, sore throat, mucosal changes with a relative lack of severe respiratory disease, myocarditis, hypoalbuminemia and elevated inflammatory markers. And indeed, the clinical presentation of COVID-19 in young adults resembles Kawasaki disease with gastrointestinal manifestations to severe inflammation with myocarditis. Conclusion. Timely diagnosis and proper treatment of the multisystem inflammatory syndrome and SARSCoV-2 infection are real challenge requiring multidisciplinary approach and tertiary resources.