Hyperkalemia

A study to evaluate the pharmacodynamic effects, safety, and tolerability of patiromer in children under 12 years of age with hyperkalaemia.

This is a descriptive, retrospective study involving patients from private cardiology, nephrology, and dialysis clinics in Brazil who participated in the National Hyperkalaemia Diagnosis Campaign. The study used anonymised data from the Hi Technologies Ltda. database. The objective was to estimate and characterise the prevalence of hyperkalaemia (HK), as well as to analyse the demographic profile, clinical characteristics, risk factors and treatment patterns associated with total blood potassium levels.

This study evaluates the safety of finerenone compared with alternate-day spironolactone in patients with heart failure and diabetic kidney disease at increased risk of hyperkalemia. Patients with chronic kidney disease and heart failure often benefit from mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, but their use is frequently limited by elevated potassium levels. Finerenone has been associated with a lower risk of hyperkalemia in clinical trials, but direct comparisons with spironolactone in high-risk patients are limited. In this randomized study, eligible participants will be assigned to receive either finerenone once daily or spironolactone on alternate days, in addition to standard therapy. Patients will be closely monitored during hospitalization and followed for 4 weeks. The primary outcome is clinically relevant hyperkalemia, defined by elevated potassium levels or the need to adjust or discontinue treatment due to hyperkalemia. Secondary outcomes include changes in potassium levels, kidney function, and clinical events. This study aims to provide practical evidence to guide the safe use of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists in patients at high risk for hyperkalemia.

For many years, people with moderate to advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) have been advised to limit their intake of potassium, a mineral found in many foods such as fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and nuts. The reason for this has been the risk of hyperkalemia, a condition in which the potassium level in the blood becomes too high and can be dangerous. In recent years, however, this view has been questioned. New research suggests that the link between potassium in food and high potassium levels in the blood may not be as clear as previously thought. People who follow a strict potassium-restricted diet experience a lower quality of life and less satisfaction with their dietary treatment. At the same time, they miss out on the health benefits of eating a varied and nutritious diet. Today, many experts advocate a more individualized approach to potassium intake: instead of generally restricting potassium, the goal should be to maintain normal potassium levels in the blood, while encouraging a healthy diet. However, this message is not always clear in healthcare, and many people therefore continue to avoid potassium-rich foods altogether. The result is that they eat fewer natural ingredients and instead consume more processed and ultra-processed foods. Such foods can be more harmful, partly because they often contain potassium additives that are absorbed effectively by the body and their quantities are not reported in the nutritional label. This "hidden" potassium can contribute more to high potassium levels in the blood than the potassium that occurs naturally in plant-based foods. In addition, potassium from whole plant-based foods is absorbed more slowly, partly due to its fiber content. Plant-based diets may also have other positive effects for people with kidney disease: they can contribute to reduced blood acidity, known as metabolic acidosis, healthier gut flora, lower levels of inflammation, and reduced phosphorus intake. Together, these factors can counteract several of the metabolic complications associated with kidney disease. In a previous study, our research group showed that even patients with advanced kidney disease (CKD stage 4-5) and already elevated potassium levels could follow a healthy plant-based diet if they also used a potassium-binding drug (sodium zirconium cyclosilicate, SZC). This enabled them to eat more fruit, vegetables, and legumes, while also experiencing improved quality of life. The current study builds on these results and is planned as a pilot study in which patients with moderate to advanced kidney disease, but who are not yet being treated with dialysis, are assigned to two different dietary strategies for six months: * Healthy plant-based diet (healthy-PBD): a more liberal and balanced plant-based diet without specific potassium restrictions. * Potassium-restricted plant-based diet (restricted-PBD): a traditional plant-based diet with restrictions on potassium-rich foods, according to current standard recommendations. The main purpose is to investigate whether the healthy plant-based diet leads to more or more severe cases of hyperkalemia than the restricted diet. Our hypothesis is that potassium levels may increase slightly in the group with a liberal diet, but not to dangerous levels. The study will also examine secondary outcomes, such as quality of life, satisfaction with treatment, and how well patients accept the diet. In addition, taste experiences will be tested with taste strips (sweet, sour, salt, bitter and umami) before and after the intervention in both groups. If this pilot study shows that a healthier and less restrictive diet is safe, it could pave the way for a larger study investigating the long-term metabolic effects of a plant-based diet in kidney care.

At times patients with advanced renal failure present with severe hyperkalemia or acidosis and very high serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations. These patients cannot be dialyzed aggressively as the lowering of serum BUN may results in disequilibrium syndrome but on the other hand they need aggressive dialysis in order to lower their serum potassium or fix their severe acidosis. If one is able to add urea to the dialysis fluid, one can prevent the rapid lowering of serum BUN and osmolality at the same time as doing aggressive dialysis to lower serum potassium and/or fix the metabolic acidosis.

The study will look at the impact of the potassium content in fruits and vegetables, on serum potassium concentrations in people with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) using a randomized crossover design. Participants will receive home delivery of fruit and vegetables with either higher or lower potassium content in a random order. Clinical chemistry markers from blood and urine samples, blood pressure, physical functioning and health related quality of life will be assessed throughout the duration of the trial. This study will also measure their physical functioning, using a chair stand test. The results of this study could change the dietary recommendations for people with CKD related to potassium.

The goal of this placebo-controlled, double-blinded cross-over trial is to test whether patiromer, compared with placebo, better enables up-titration of RAAS-blocker treatment in patients with chronic kidney disease stage 3b/4. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does patiromer allow uptitration of irbesartan, resulting in a significant reduction in albuminuria and blood pressure? * Does patiromer allow uptitration of irbesartan, resulting in a significant reduction in blood pressure? The trial contains the following interventions: * Participants will be switched from their ACEi/ARB to a standardised dose of irbesartan (150 mg/d). * During two 12-week study periods, participants will receive either patiromer 8.4 g/d or placebo. The order of study periods is randomized. * At the start of each study period irbesartan will be up-titrated to 300 mg/d. * After 1 and 6 weeks, at both periods, plasma potassium will be measured and the irbesartan dose will be reduced to 150 mg/d in case plasma potassium exceeds 5.0 mmol/L. * At 12 weeks from the start of the study period, the endpoints will be assessed. * Between the two study periods, there is a 6-week washout. Irbesartan dose during the wash-out period will be 150mg/d. After washout, participants will switch from the patiromer arm to the placebo arm or vice versa.

This clinical trial consists of 2 parts, Part A and Part B. Part A consists of a 2-day randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled corrective phase (CP) and a 28-day randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled maintenance phase (MP). Part B (open-label extension, OLE) is an open-label, 11-month extension study carried out in participants who come from Part A and meet certain inclusion criteria.

The goal of this observational pilot study is to evaluate the investigational AK+ Guard™ software as a medical device (SaMD) for detection of moderate to severe hyperkalemia (serum potassium (K+) ≥ 6.5 mmol/L) in adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Study objectives are: * Arm 2A (Outpatient Diagnostic Accuracy): To generate a preliminary, real-world signal of the diagnostic performance of AK+ Guard™ when used in an ambulatory CKD cohort for identifying clinically significant hyperkalemia episodes (serum K+ ≥ 6.5 mmol/L) at the time of an outpatient laboratory draw. * Arm 2B (Remote Patient Monitoring): To assess participant compliance, usability, and end-to-end system reliability of AK+ Guard™ when deployed for daily remote monitoring of CKD patients outside the clinical environment for up to four weeks.

The goal of this observational study is to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of hyperkalemia in community-based non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. What is the prevalence of hyperkalemia in non-dialysis CKD patients in a primary care setting? 2. What are the key risk factors influencing the occurrence of hyperkalemia in this population? Researchers will collect clinical and demographic data from participants across 18 community health centers and use both point-of-care testing (POCT) and laboratory-based methods to measure serum potassium levels and related parameters. Participants will: 1. Provide blood samples for POCT and laboratory testing. 2. Participate in interviews or questionnaires to gather clinical and lifestyle information. The findings will be used to construct a risk prediction model for hyperkalemia, aiming to optimize screening pathways and improve disease management strategies in primary care.

The management of serum potassium in maintenance hemodialysis（MHD ）patients is one of the hot topics at present. In order to control hyperkalemia in dialysis patients, the use of hypokalemic dialysate is the most important measure to reduce potassium. This measure effectively reduces serum potassium, but increases the risk of hypokalemia after dialysis, which increases the risk of all-cause death in patients. Hyperkalemia and hypokalemia during and at the end of dialysis are important factors for arrhythmia and death in MHD patients. Due to the intermittent nature of hemodialysis treatment, MHD patients often experience frequent fluctuations in serum potassium, which is a potential risk factor for poor prognosis of MHD patients. Serum potassium variability can better reflect the potassium homeostasis in MHD patients. In addition to hyperkalemia and hypokalemia, serum potassium variability is a potential risk factor affecting the prognosis of MHD patients. At present, there are few studies on the effect of improving serum potassium variability on cardiovascular complications, especially multi-center randomized controlled trials. In this study, sodium zirconium cyclosilicate was used to control hyperkalemia before dialysis and increase potassium concentration in dialysate, so as to reduce the risk of hypokalemia after dialysis, and to verify whether improving serum potassium variability can reduce myocardial injury in hemodialysis patients.

Patients with CKD ( eGFR \< \<60 mL/min/1,73 m2) presenting to emergency department with isolated hyperkalemia will be study population. Pre and post treatment ECG and echocardiographic findings will be recorded. Investigator will not intervene with the treatment decision of responsible physician and will not delay any intervetion or treatment for the sake of study. Data will be compared in terms of ECHO and ECG findings depending on hyperkalemia level and response to treatment.