Dialysis

This study aims to determine if GLP1RA is safe and tolerable in maintenance dialysis population, adherence, and feasibility of a larger definitive cardiovascular outcome trial in this population. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to either weekly subcutaneous semaglutide versus usual care and followed for 26 weeks.

Obesity is in constant increase all over the world and affects 35% of the global population according to the World Health Organisation. It is associated with other cardiovascular risk factors (particularly hypertension and diabetes) and with high morbi-mortality. It is also responsible for an increase of the risk of developing chronic kidney diseases (CKD). In fact, obese patients represent 25% of the dialysis population and Picardy is one of the most affected areas. However, their access to kidney transplant is still restricted and the reasons are not completely understood.

Background: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are essential for evaluating intervention effects but are often challenged by regulatory and logistical burdens, high costs, and extended timelines. To address these challenges, the 'Adaptive Platform Trial in Kidney Disease' (APT-KIDNEY) will establish an investigator-initiated platform trial built on a unified regulatory, contractual, and operational framework. The platform emphasizes adaptive, cost-efficient methodology, automated data capture via linkage to electronic health records and administrative registers, and stakeholder engagement. Objectives: The primary objective of APT-KIDNEY is to establish an adaptive platform trial for evaluation of multiple interventions in patients with advanced kidney disease as defined by an estimated glomerular filtration rate \< 30 ml/min/1.73 m2 or end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) on dialysis or conservative care. Study design: APT-KIDNEY is a pragmatic, randomized, embedded, multifactorial, adaptive platform trial with interventions organized into domains, emphasizing low-intervention comparisons. Domains may be open-label or blinded and will be able to use response-adaptive randomization, adaptive stopping and arm-dropping, and adaptive enrichment to enhance efficiency and relevance where applicable. Study population: Adults (≥18 years) with advanced kidney disease defined by eGFR \< 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 for ≥3 months or ESKD on hemo- or peritoneal dialysis who are eligible for ≥1 one domain. Key exclusions include inability to provide informed consent; domain-specific exclusions may apply, but eligibility cannot be broadened beyond the core protocol. Trial outcomes: Core outcomes will be all-cause mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal ischemic stroke, or cardiovascular death), and health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L). Abbreviated methods: APT-KIDNEY will permit domains to use frequentist and/or Bayesian methods. Primary analyses will target prespecified primary estimands and be conducted using the full analysis set. Prespecified sensitivity analyses will assess robustness to alternative strategies for intercurrent events and missing data, including per-protocol and as-treated supportive analyses. Outcomes are analyzed with generalized linear/mixed models and time-to-event methods with covariate adjustment. Frequentist analyses will be fixed-sample or group-sequential; results will be reported with 95% CIs and p-values, and Bayesian analyses will report posterior effects with 95% credible intervals and posterior probabilities. Bayesian domains will primarily use neutral, mildly skeptical priors. Multiplicity will be controlled at the domain level by a prespecified hierarchy: primary comparisons will precede secondary outcomes. Advanced adaptive domains will be evaluated by simulation to quantify operating characteristics including, power and Type I error, and the impact of outcome delays and missing data. Perspectives: APT-KIDNEY will establish an enduring, investigator-led platform for pragmatic, embedded nephrology trials, reducing start-up time and administrative burden through a shared regulatory and operational framework. Using standardized core outcomes and automated follow-up via electronic health records and national registers, it will generate faster, comparable, practice-relevant evidence across multiple interventions.

Rationale: Sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are a relatively new class of drugs originally developed for the treatment of diabetes. Cardiovascular outcome trials with these drugs showed also beneficial effects of these agents on heart failure, cardiovascular disease and kidney outcomes. Secondary analyses from these trials demonstrated that these benefits were consistent in patients with or without type 2 diabetes and with or without chronic kidney disease (CKD) with a lower eGFR threshold of 20 mL/min/1.73m2. However, it is not yet clear if these drugs can also be used in patients with severe kidney disease who require dialysis. This is in part explained because SGLT2 inhibitors bind to a transporter which is located in the luminal side of proximal tubes in the kidney. If kidney function is low, and these patients have no or limited filtering capacity, it is possible that the efficacy of these drugs decrease. Notwithstanding, several animal experiments and preliminary clinical data have suggested that these drugs do have kidney and cardiac protective effects in case of severely decreased kidney function. The investigators hypothesize that SGLT2 inhibitors are distributed to several tissues in the body on top of the kidney and therefore the investigators would like to investigate the specific tissue distribution of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients on dialysis with-and without residual diuresis.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if laser acupuncture (low-level laser therapy) works to treat fatigue and improve quality of life in adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing hemodialysis. It will also learn about how laser acupuncture affects blood circulation and autonomic nervous system balance. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does laser acupuncture reduce the severity of fatigue and its interference with daily life? 2. Can laser acupuncture improve related symptoms such as insomnia, poor appetite, and skin itching? 3. How does laser acupuncture affect objective markers like microcirculation and heart rate variability? Researchers will compare laser acupuncture to a sham treatment (a look-alike procedure using a device that does not emit a laser) to see if laser acupuncture works to treat fatigue. Participants will: 1. Receive laser acupuncture or a sham treatment during their regular hemodialysis sessions 3 times a week for 4 weeks. 2. Have their fatigue and life quality assessed through questionnaires on the first day, at 4 weeks, and at 8 weeks. 3. Undergo non-invasive tests to measure microcirculation, heart rate variability, and pulse waves, and have photos of their tongue taken for Chinese medicine assessment.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as a non-invasive and non-contrast enhanced technique, has the potential to improve patient health care and management. The overall objective of proposed project is to: 1. develop, customize, and optimize anatomic and functional MRI methods, 2. explore the use of MRI methods to study CKD and evaluate post-transplant kidneys, and 3. investigate the potential of MRI in the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of the progression of renal dysfunction. In addition to direct studies of the kidney, brain MRI studies will also be performed to identify the cerebrovascular and cognitive effects of chronic renal function deficiency and medical treatment (e.g. hemodialysis and immunosuppression). The brain and kidneys have similar vascular bed, and both are susceptible to vascular injury, which provides the pathological basis for the widely recognized association of reduced renal function with prevalent cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) and cognitive impairment (CI). The MRI methods in the brain will be applied to explore the origins for widely observed CVDs and prevalent cognitive impairment (CI) in kidney disease patients.

This is an international, multicenter, observational study aimed at investigating acute kidney injury requiring renal replacement therapy (AKI-RRT) in Latin American countries. The main questions this study aims to answer are: * What is the epidemiology, outcomes, and processes of care for patients with AKI-RRT in Latin America? * How do outcomes differ across different countries in Latin America? * What factors (demographics, clinical, socioeconomic) influence outcomes in patients with AKI-RRT in Latin America? The main aims of this study are to: * Establish a comprehensive database containing clinical, laboratory, treatment, process, and outcome data of patients with AKI-RRT in Latin America * Describe current epidemiology of AKI-RRT in Latin America * Compare processes of care and outcomes across different countries in Latin America * Provide data resources to facilitate and promote clinical research in AKI-RRT

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if AP301 could work in the patients receiving maintenance dialysis with elevated blood phosphate. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does AP301 lower blood phosphate levels? * Does AP301 works on serum calcium level, calcium times phosphate level, and intact parathyroid hormone level? * What discomfort or medical problem do the patients have when taking AP301? * Does AP301 improve quality of life in Chinese patients? The researchers will compare AP301 to an ineffective comparator (a look-alike substance that contains low dose AP301) to see if AP301 works to treat elevated blood phosphate. In the study, the patients will experience the following stages in a chronicle order: * Stop all using blood phosphate-lowering drugs, * Take AP301 or the comparator three times a day for 8 weeks, * Take AP301 three times a day for 24 weeks, and * Take AP301 or the comparator three times a day for 3 weeks. In the first 32 weeks, the dose of AP301 will be adjusted upwards or downwards based on the patient's blood phosphate level and the study doctor's judgment. If the participant has a blood phosphate level above or below a certain level, they may receive additional treatment to lower the blood phosphate level.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Even after adjustment for known cardiovascular risk factors, including diabetes and hypertension, mortality risk progressively increases with worsening CKD. As glomerular filtration rate (GFR) declines the probability of developing coronary artery disease (CAD) increases linearly, and patients with GFR \<60 mL/min/1.73 m2 have 2-3-fold increased CV mortality risk, relative to patients without CKD. Management of CAD is complicated in CKD patients due to the likelihood of comorbid conditions and potential for side effects. Despite their high cardiovascular risk, ACS patients with renal dysfunction are less commonly treated with guideline-based medical therapy and are less frequently referred for coronary revascularisation. This observation, referred to as the "treatment risk paradox," has been well described and may be explained by physicians' concerns regarding possible nonrenal side effects as well as renal toxicities. Furthermore, patients with severe CKD have traditionally been under-represented in most large cardiovascular clinical trials. Therefore, recommendations for both medical and revascularisation of CAD have relied heavily on extrapolation of results from the non-CKD population. This data will add to that literature by assessing the characteristics and outcomes of patients with CAD and CKD. It will also identify and characterise predictors of outcomes, improve risk stratification and diagnostic evaluation.

Objectives: This pilot study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) in dialysis patients and atrial fibrillation (AF) to establish a novel stroke prevention strategy and determine an optimal post-occlusion antithrombotic regime. Page 3 of 50 Hypothesis: The study tests the hypotheses that LAAO is safe for dialysis patients, that a single antiplatelet regimen postprocedure is safe, and that LAAO effectively reduces the composite endpoint of stroke/transient ischemic attack and major bleeding compared to standard care. Instruments: The study employs a multicenter, single-arm prospective registry design. Eligible participants, aged ≥18 with documented AF and ESRF on peritoneal dialysis (PD) or hemodialysis (HD), will undergo LAAO using the Watchman Flx PRO device. Propensity score matched historical cohort from dialysis registry will be identified for comparison. Main Outcome Measures: The primary endpoint is the composite of stroke/transient ischemic attack/systemic embolism and non-procedural-related major bleeding at one year. Secondary endpoints include individual rates of these events, procedural safety and device occlusion effectiveness. Data Analysis and Expected Results: Statistical analysis will involve descriptive statistics, chi-squared tests, and propensity score matching. A p-value of \<0.05 will be deemed significant. The pilot study anticipates a low peri-procedural complication rate (≤5%) and confirms LAAO's efficacy in stroke and major bleeding reduction in Chinese PD and HD patients compared to standard care. This data will inform the design of a larger randomized controlled trial aimed at validating LAAO as a safe alternative for AF management in dialysis populations.

Aim: to evaluate if the Choosing Wisely campaign can be introduced without harming critically ill patients. Background: Each year, around 45,000 patients are admitted to Sweden's 81 ICUs (intensive care units), costing 6-7 billion SEK (6% of total healthcare expenditure). The high costs of health care are partly attributable to overuse of diagnostic tests. Up to 30% of these tests lead to treatments that provide no benefit for patients, some of them may even be harmful(1-3). To improve quality of care while combating this problem of cost, the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation developed the Choosing Wisely Campaign, tasking professional societies to develop lists of top five medical services patients and physicians should question. Patients in the ICU, can especially benefit from this paradigm shift. They are subjected to multiple testing on a daily - sometimes hourly - basis, therefore this field of medicine responded to the campaign quickly. Two sets of top-five-lists of tests and interventions that can be questioned have been published(4 5). In multiple countries, including Sweden, the Choosing Wisely campaign is gathering traction among critical care physicians and is on the verge of being introduced. It is both common-sensical and will save money, so health care leaders are positive. However, the investigators have an opportunity, and a duty, to assess the evidence; can the Choosing Wisely campaign be introduced without harming ICU patients? The present study thus aims to evaluate the introduction of the Choosing Wisely campaign in the context of the ICU. Is this change of care strategy associated with changes in 30-day-mortality? Secondary outcomes include ICU length of stay, use of non-invasive- or invasive mechanical ventilation and continuous renal replacement therapy. This is a registry-based cluster randomized controlled study (R-RCT), targeting Swedish ICU's across multiple regions. Primary and secondary outcomes will be retrieved from the Swedish Intensive care Register (SIR), making ICU participation easier and less costly.

When a patient has dialysis some nutrients are lost in the process. Nutritional losses include protein, trace elements (i.e. zinc, copper and selenium) and water-soluble vitamins (Vitamins C and B). These nutrients are essential for normal body function, including a good immune system and nutritional status. For example, on average the protein losses during a dialysis session (the process where the blood is cleaned via a machine and special fluid) is equal to 6g of protein/day (which is the equivalent of the amount of protein in 1 egg). Protein needs for the general population are 0.8g protein per kg of body weight. Because people on dialysis lose protein via the dialysis, it is thought that these people need to eat more protein. Currently, in clinical practice for people receiving dialysis, the guidelines are to aim for 1.1 -1.4g of protein per kg of body weight. However, the research is old and very weak. Dialysis treatments have changed over the past 40 years, and the investigator does not know if the replacement of these nutritional losses is important to how well people do on dialysis and if they have any effect on survival. Previous research is mostly limited to haemodialysis (a type of dialysis that requires a machine which cleans the patients' blood via special filters) and peritoneal dialysis (this is a type of dialysis which happens via the patients' tummy). There is no research on the nutritional supplementation in home HD and nocturnal HD. Our research will investigate if a higher protein provision leads to a reduction is hospital admissions and improved outcomes in patients receiving dialysis.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of a specialized oral nutritional supplement (SF) enriched with BCAAs, omega-3 fatty acids, and dietary fiber on improving the nutritional status of dialysis patients with mild to moderate malnutrition, and thereby alleviating fatigue and enhancing quality of life. We will assess various aspects of protein-energy wasting (PEW), as well as changes in the Malnutrition Inflammation Score (MIS), Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI), fatigue, appetite, serum BCAA levels, uremic toxins, and gut microbiota composition.

For chronic kidney disease (CKD), there is a lack of unique and powerful platform for patient engagement, research studies and public health advocacy work. The National kidney Foundation (NKF) launched the first nationwide registry for people at all stages and types of CKD, including people on dialysis and kidney transplant recipients, called the KidneyCARE Study (kidneycarestudy.org). The KidneyCARE Study is a non-interventional research study which means participants will not have to take medications or do any additional tests to participate. They are simply asked to share some personal and health information, and their experiences with their disease through a secure portal. The Study also collaborates with health systems to obtain additional electronic health records (EHR) data. This unique combination of data collected will address the gap of individualized educational resources and will enhance clinical research, clinical care, and health policy decisions to be centered on the patient. The Study is all online and can be accessed any time of day at kidneycarestudy.org. Participation is voluntary and free.

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the use of virtual reality therapy in dialysis patients. The main question it aims to answer is: Does virtual reality improve symptom burden in dialysis patients and improve their mental wellbeing? Over a period of one month, one virtual reality therapy session of 30 minutes will be performed during each regular hemodialysis session. Since we will conduct a monocentric, crossover randomized controlled trial, the participants act as their own control group.

Haemodialysis is essential for patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), requiring consistent vascular access through arteriovenous fistulas or grafts. This involves frequent needling, a procedure that is painful and distressing for many patients, causing significant emotional and physical demands on healthcare professionals working in the dialysis units. In the UK, about 30,000 patients receive haemodialysis, involving over 300 needling procedures annually. Healthcare professionals (Registered nurses and healthcare assistants) play a crucial role, with their expertise directly affecting patient outcomes. However, 60% of HCPs (healthcare professionals) report high job-related stress, particularly due to needling demands. Effective needling requires not only technical proficiency but also managing patient pain and anxiety. Strong staff-patient relationships, characterized by empathy and understanding, can enhance the needling experience. Challenges for dialysis unit staff includes the technical difficulty of needling and the emotional burden of patient care. Studies highlight the need for better training and support systems to help them cope with these demands. Understanding healthcare professionals' perspectives can identify areas for improvement, inform training programs, and improve experiences in dialysis units. Research by Rahmah et al. (2018) and Duncanson (2023) emphasizes the importance of HCPs skills and the psychological toll on them, suggesting further exploration of this area is needed. The primary aim of this research is to examine HCPs perspectives on the needling experience in haemodialysis, aiming to identify improvement areas and inform targeted training programs to enhance patient experiences. The study will utilize a qualitative exploratory design with semi-structured interviews to gather in-depth insights from HCPs. Data will be collected from renal dialysis units at East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, involving 12 to 16 registered nurses performing needling procedures. Thematic analysis will be used to analyse interview transcripts and identify key themes related to technical skills, communication barriers, and patient-related factors. The study will run for 10 months.

Assessment of performance (precision and accuracy) of Simplera™ CGM as compared with a gold standard reference laboratory method (YSI glucose) in diabetes patients on peritoneal dialysis with icodextrin

In recent years, expanded hemodialysis has been the subject of studies, many of them done on small populations, with limited observation periods and not always unambiguous results. In the literature, there are data comparing HDx and high-flow hemodialysis in terms of small- and medium-molecule purification and control of inflammation indices; there are fewer data comparing HDx and HDF online. In contrast, there are no studies in the literature comparing HDx with HFR. With a view to personalizing therapy, demonstrating the equivalence/superiority of HDx over the other dialysis techniques under consideration could make this technique suitable precisely for that class of more malnourished and more frail patients who to date do not obtain benefits from the other methods. The objective of the study is the mid-term (12-month) evaluation and comparison of the MCO filter called Theranova 400™ (1.7 m2, steam sterilization, cut-off 25 Kda, Baxter, Heichingen, Germany) with high-flux hemodialysis (HF-HD), OL- HDF and hemodiafiltration with endogenous reinfusion (HFR) with HFR filter 17 , in combination with medical therapy under normal clinical practice, in terms of purification of low and medium molecular weight uremic toxins, control of baseline inflammatory status and erythropoietin resistance in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis treatment.

Hemodialysis treatment enables patients with end-stage chronic kidney disease to survive. At the same time, however, this treatment also increases cardiovascular mortality, in particular due to a chronically increased level of inflammation and usually incomplete removal of uraemic toxins. Both of these are closely linked with the functional properties of albumin. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of various parameters of dialysis, in particular dialyzer properties and dialysis mode on the functional properties of albumin and to what extent these parameters can be used therapeutically, to improve the treatment quality of hemodialysis treatment in the long term by modifying albumin functional properties. Our own preliminary work in this field and the current state of research indicate that, for example, the use of high-flux dialyzers can contribute to a reduction of the oxidative stress level. It also appears possible that treatment mode (haemodiafiltration instead of haemodialysis) may also have an effect on the binding and detoxification efficiency of albumin and thus on the removal of uraemic toxins. Previous results have mostly been collected in observational studies. As a proof-of-concept study, this study will further investigate the concrete therapeutic applicability in an interventional study design.

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the main complication and the most important cause of death in CKD patients. As the disease progresses, the incidence of cardiovascular disease in CKD patients gradually increases, especially in End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients receiving dialysis treatment, where the prevalence of cardiovascular disease reaches its highest level. Currently, there is a lack of a simple and reliable tool to assess the cardiac function status and predict the risk of cardiovascular events in patients on maintenance dialysis. The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) is a widely used patient-reported outcomes measurement tool for assessing health-related quality of life in heart failure patients. It has been shown that KCCQ scores not only reflect the underlying undiagnosed symptoms of heart failure in CKD patients, but also have a strong correlation with prognosis. However, there is currently insufficient clinical evidence to confirm the value of the KCCQ in patients on maintenance dialysis. Investigators will perform a prospective, single-center, observational study to collect the changing trend of KCCQ scores at baseline and during the observation periods in maintenance dialysis patients, to analyze the association between the scores and the occurrence of long-term cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. The aim is to construct a predictive model of KCCQ scores to provide a reference basis for clinical management of this high-risk group, so as to optimize the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure in dialysis patients and improve their cardiovascular outcomes.