1/24. Radionuclide renography: a personal approach.Recent advances have increased the value of radionuclide renography in evaluating the patient with suspected disease of the genitourinary tract. The use of the consensus process to help standardize procedures and recommend interpretative criteria provides guidance for the nuclear medicine practitioner, serves as a basis to improve the standard of practice, and facilitates pooling of data from different centers. This review draws on the consensus criteria to present a personal approach to radionuclide renography with a particular emphasis on diuresis renography and the detection of renovascular hypertension. patients are encouraged to come well hydrated and void immediately prior to the study. Our standard radiopharmaceutical is 99mTc mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3). Routine quantitative indices include a MAG3 clearance, whole kidney and cortical (parenchymal) regions of interest, measurements of relative uptake, time to peak height (Tmax), 20 min/max count ratio, residual urine volume and a T(1/2) in patients undergoing diuresis renography. A 1-minute image of the injection site is obtained at the conclusion of the study to check for infiltration because infiltration can invalidate a plasma sample clearance and alter the renogram curve. A postvoid image of the kidneys and bladder is obtained to calculate residual urine volume and to better evaluate drainage from the collecting system. In patients undergoing diuresis renography, the T(1/2) is calculated using a region of interest around the activity in the dilated collecting system. A prolonged T(1/2), however, should never be the sole criterion for diagnosing the presence of obstruction; the T(1/2) must be interpreted in the context of the sequential images, total and individual kidney function, other quantitative indices and available diagnostic studies. The goal of ACE inhibitor renography is to detect renovascular hypertension, not renal artery stenosis. patients with a positive study have a high probability of cure or amelioration of the hypertension following revascularization. In patients with azotemia or in patients with a small, poorly functioning kidney, the test result is often indeterminate (intermediate probability) with an abnormal baseline study that does not change following ACE inhibition. In patients with normal renal function, the test is highly accurate. To avoid unrealistic expectations on the part of the referring physician, it is often helpful to explain the likely differences in test results in these two-patient populations prior to the study.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = renovascular, hypertension (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/24. Optic neuropathy in uremia: an interdisciplinary emergency.Optic neuropathy in uremia is rare. Although the consequences of optic neuropathy-blindness or substantial loss of vision-are devastating, only a few cases have been reported by way of single case reports and case series studies. The reported patients are heterogeneous with regard to the cause of neuropathy. We report the case of a patient with uremic optic neuropathy and summarize the other cases reported in the literature so far. Based on the data available from these reports, we propose a classification system, which includes nonischemic neurotoxic uremic optic neuropathy; ischemic optic neuropathy, more specifically anterior ischemic optic neuropathy; and optic neuropathy as a result of drug side effects, benign intracranial hypertension, and optic neuritis. The immediate institution of dialysis and corticosteroid therapy and correction of anemia and relative hypotension can optimize the chances of visual recovery for these patients. Close collaboration among nephrologists, ophthalmologists, and neurologists is important in this interdisciplinary emergency.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.098490059230192keywords = hypertension (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/24. Chronic thrombotic microangiopathy associated with antineoplastic therapy with minimal hematologic effects.OBJECTIVE: To describe 6 patients who developed progressive renal failure and renal thrombotic microangiopathy (TM) not accompanied by the characteristic hematologic disturbances of TM syndromes. patients AND methods: Portions of renal biopsy specimens from each patient were examined by light and electron microscopy for histopathologic evidence of TM. Antecedent clinical events, laboratory evidence of hemolysis and thrombocytopenia, and clinical outcome were documented. medical records were reviewed and clinical data, including laboratory values, treatment, and outcome, were recorded. RESULTS: In each case, a slowly progressive uremia evolved after radiation and/or chemotherapy without laboratory evidence of acute hemolysis or thrombocytopenia. Renal biopsy specimens in all cases showed TM and tubulointerstitial scarring, suggesting both acute and chronic renal injury. Two of the 6 patients underwent plasma exchange therapy without improvement of renal function. Three patients treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors for coexisting systemic hypertension remained stable or had mild improvement in renal function. CONCLUSIONS: A small subset of patients treated for malignancy developed slowly evolving uremia associated with renal TM without marked hematologic abnormalities. In the absence of thrombocytopenia and other typical laboratory findings, the diagnosis of renal TM may be overlooked.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.098490059230192keywords = hypertension (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/24. Treating azotemia-induced anemia with erythropoietin improves diabetic eye disease.BACKGROUND: Coincidental with the pandemic growth of diabetes as the prime cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), blindness attributable to diabetic retinopathy has become a major concern for all those involved in the care of diabetic ESRD patients. Vision loss is linked to progression of proliferative retinopathy and macular edema. methods: Extracted from a study of azotemic anemic pre-ESRD patients treated with erythropoietin, a cohort of five diabetic subjects was reassessed in terms of stability of renal function, changes in blood rheology, and course of diabetic eye disease. RESULTS: All subjects reported subjective improvement in well-being, including enhanced effort tolerance following an increase in hematocrit from a baseline level of to 29.6 /- 2.0% to a level of 39.5 /- 2.4% after one year of treatment with erythropoietin (P = <0.0005). Neither hypertension nor deterioration of renal function was noted in any subject. Three patients with macular edema evinced substantive improvement-based stable vision and documented resolution noted in flourescein angiography. CONCLUSION: erythropoietin treatment of anemic azotemic diabetic patients is well tolerated. In a small observational retrospective study of three patients with macular edema, retention of vision and resolution of exudates was noted.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.098490059230192keywords = hypertension (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/24. Allograft diabetic nephropathy may progress to end-stage renal disease.Mesangial expansion and glomerular basement membrane thickening characteristic of diabetic nephropathy recur in diabetic recipients of renal allografts from non-diabetic donors but progression to renal failure is minimally documented. Three female renal allograft recipients (aged 40, 62 and 73 yr), who developed end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to recurrent diabetic nephropathy (two patients) and de novo diabetes (one patient) are reported. Onset of proteinuria, uncontrolled hypertension, azotemia, renal allograft pathologic findings and the need for hemodialysis were analyzed. None of the kidney donors (one cadaver, two living related) had known diabetes or perturbed glucose metabolism pre-transplantation. The three patients presented had different varieties of diabetes; type 1, type 2 and new onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT). In each subject, proteinuria was detected by dipstick at a mean of 8.3 yr (range 8-9) post-transplantation and increased to the nephrotic range (3.7-4.8 g/day) inducing hypoalbuminemia and azotemia. A histopathologic diagnosis of allograft diabetic nephropathy was made in a mean of 11.7 yr (range 10-14), based on glomerular basement membrane thickening, nodular and diffuse intercapillary glomerulosclerosis, arteriolosclerosis, and tubular atrophy with marked tubular basement membrane thickening characteristic of advanced diabetic nephropathy. All three patients manifested uremia and resumed hemodialysis. Two patients died from sepsis within 2 months and one patient died 2.5 yr later after resumption of maintenance hemodialysis. We infer that recurrent or de novo diabetic nephropathy in renal allografts follows a clinical decade-long course irrespective of diabetes. Reports of ESRD due to allograft diabetic nephropathy (ADN) have been limited because of shorter survival of diabetic transplant recipients and few kidney biopsies performed in patients with chronic allograft dysfunction. The occurrence of allograft diabetic nephropathy in some, but not all patients, however, suggests that individual genetic variability modulates disease expression.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.098490059230192keywords = hypertension (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/24. simvastatin-amiodarone interaction resulting in rhabdomyolysis, azotemia, and possible hepatotoxicity.OBJECTIVE: To describe the fifth reported instance, as of February 15, 2006, of a severe interaction between simvastatin and amiodarone and hypothesize inhibition of CYP3A4 as the major mechanism. CASE SUMMARY: A 72-year-old white man (178 cm, 77.2 kg) with diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and mild azotemia was hospitalized on September 21, 2004, with thigh weakness, achiness, and dark urine for 7 days. coronary artery bypass had been performed on July 7, 2004. amiodarone 200 mg/day was started on July 10, and simvastatin 80 mg/day was initiated on August 13. Laboratory testing on the present admission included creatine kinase (CK) 19,620 U/L (reference range 60-224), blood urea nitrogen 50 mg/dL, creatinine 2.6 mg/dL, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) 912 U/L (30-60), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) 748 U/L (30-60), urine myoglobin 71,100 microg/L (<50), and serum myoglobin 13,877 microg/L (<110). simvastatin and amiodarone were discontinued, and the patient was hydrated with forced alkaline diuresis. Thirteen days later, his CK was 323 U/L, creatinine 1.7 mg/dL, ALT 145 U/L, and AST 37 U/L. DISCUSSION: simvastatin is metabolized primarily by CYP3A4, and amiodarone is a recognized inhibitor of this enzyme. This may, therefore, account for the presumed drug interaction. CONCLUSIONS: An objective causal assessment suggests that rhabdomyolysis, renal failure, and possibly hepatotoxicity were probably related to an amiodarone-simvastatin interaction.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.098490059230192keywords = hypertension (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/24. review of patients' responses to epoetin alfa therapy.The efficacy of epoetin alfa (recombinant human erythropoietin) has been tested for treating the anemia associated with end-stage renal disease. This anemia is caused by severely decreased levels of erythropoietin, 90% of which is ordinarily produced by healthy kidneys. Treatment with epoetin alfa successfully corrected the anemia of 97% of 333 patients, as evidenced by hematocrit levels that increased by at least 6 percentage points or reached a study target level of 35%, 2 points above current guidelines. The 127 patients who previously required red cell transfusions to maintain an adequate hematocrit became completely transfusion independent after receiving epoetin alfa. Furthermore, treatment with this growth factor alleviated many of the symptoms of uremia, such as loss of energy and appetite. The major side effect observed with epoetin alfa treatment was increased diastolic blood pressure; however, this was well controlled by additional antihypertension medication. There have been no reports of antibody formation in response to this drug. Thus, epoetin alfa is a safe and effective means of treating the anemia caused by chronic renal insufficiency.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.098490059230192keywords = hypertension (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/24. Pulmonary hypertension, hemolytic anemia, and renal failure. A mitomycin-associated syndrome.After treatment with mitomycin C, a patient developed pulmonary hypertension with interstitial infiltrates, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, systemic hypertension, and renal failure with the nephrotic syndrome. Open lung biopsy documented intracapillary fibrin thrombi in the pulmonary vasculature. Renal biopsy documented glomerular and arteriolar changes that were most consistent with a thrombotic-thrombocytopenic-like process. Treatment with corticosteroids, fresh-frozen plasma, and total plasma exchange was ineffective. The patient died six months after the onset. When mitomycin-C therapy is given, the clinician should be aware of the pulmonary, renal, and microangiopathic changes that can be associated with such therapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.59094035538115keywords = hypertension (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/24. Coarctation of the abdominal aorta in elderly patients. Case report and review of the literature.Coarctation of the abdominal aorta as a congenital disease is infrequent, the diagnosis mostly being made at an early age because of renovascular hypertension. patients who reach the age of 40 more often tend to have the problems located distally to the renal arteries. A 66-year-old female is described, who developed an aortic occlusion, renovascular hypertension and uremia. She was cured with a bifurcation graft and a patch angioplasty of a stenotic renal artery and nephrectomy of the contralateral kidney with an occluded artery without refilling. A literature survey is made of patients older than 40 years.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.90150994076981keywords = renovascular, hypertension (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/24. Renal autotransplantation in the treatment of hypertension and uraemia due to renal artery stenosis.Four cases of renovascular hypertension cured or improved by renal autotransplantation are described. In one case correction of renal ischaemia resulted in an improvement of renal function. Previous reports of this technique are reviewed and the limitations of the more standard operation of saphenous vein bypass graft are discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.84471520730567keywords = renovascular, hypertension (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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