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Dialysis Company Says Settlement Will Cost $495 Million - Daily Report (registration) |
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New test predicts sudden cardiac death in hemodialysis patients - NephrologyNews.com |
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A new test has been developed to predict sudden cardiac death in hemodialysis patients in whom such forecasts were previously impossible. The method was presented at the International Conference on Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac CT (ICNC 12) by Dr Akiyoshi Hashimoto, a cardiologist at Sapporo Medical University in Japan. The test uses a combination of nuclear medicine, C-reactive protein and electrocardiogram (ECG).
ICNC is organised by the Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac CT section of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC), and the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM). ICNC 12 is held 3 to 5 May 2015 in Madrid, Spain.
"Hemodialysis patients are at increased risk of sudden cardiac death because they often have latent ischaemic heart disease which reduces blood flow to the heart," said Hashimoto said. "Latent means they don't have any clinical signs or symptoms, making it very difficult to predict a future heart attack. Ischaemic heart disease should be diagnosed at an early stage so that preventive therapies can be given. But exercise stress testing is inappropriate for diagnosis in hemodialysis patients who have multiple complications including muscle weakness, osteoporosis and peripheral arterial disease."
The current study investigated the ability of three methods, alone or in combination, to predict the risk of sudden cardiac death in hemodialysis patients. All three methods were performed at rest. The first was a nuclear medicine radioisotope technique called beta-methyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) scintigraphy1, which measures fatty acid uptake by the heart. ECG2 was used to assess the Q wave and C-reactive protein3 levels in the blood were measured.
The study included 677 patients from the multicenter, prospective cohort study B-SAFE.4 BMIPP scintigraphy, ECG and C-reactive protein assessment was performed in all patients. During the 3-year follow up, 20 sudden cardiac deaths occurred. Patients who suffered sudden cardiac death were more likely to have abnormal BMIPP scintigraphy, abnormal Q wave and a greater C-reactive protein level compared to patients who did not experience sudden cardiac death. There were no differences between the three groups in other clinical, laboratory or hemodialysis parameters.
Taken on their own, patients with a BMIPP score greater than 16 had an 11-fold increased risk of sudden cardiac death, while an abnormal Q wave conferred an 18-fold increased risk, and a C-reactive protein level greater than 2.38 mg/dl predicted a 7-fold increased risk. Patients with two or three of the predictors had a sudden cardiac death risk that was 145 times greater than patients with normal levels on all three measures.
"The most powerful way to predict sudden cardiac death was to combine the measures. Hemodialysis patients who had 2 or 3 abnormal measures were at 145 times increased risk," Hashimoto said. "In hemodialysis patients, abnormal uptake of BMIPP has an independent and incremental value in the prediction of sudden cardiac death in combination with C-reactive protein and Q wave. This indicates impaired fatty acid metabolism by the heart which could be caused by latent ischaemic heart disease and may lead to fatal cardiac events.
"An abnormal Q wave indicates the presence of previous myocardial infarction or serious myocardial injury responsible for low cardiac output, heart failure and/or potentially fatal arrhythmias. High C-reactive protein levels reflect any active inflammatory reactions such as infection or atherosclerosis. For the first time there is a way to predict sudden cardiac death in hemodialysis patients. In a clinical setting, BMIPP scintigraphy can be used in hemodialysis patients who are identified as high risk by abnormal Q wave and increased C-reactive protein. Abnormal BMIPP identifies specific myocardial injury which could be an effective therapeutic target for preventing sudden cardiac death."
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American Renal Associates Holdings Just Had Published Form D Announcing ... - OctaFinance.com |
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American Renal Associates Holdings Financing
American Renal Associates Holdings, Inc., Corporation just released form D announcing $155,838 financing. American Renal Associates Holdings was able to sell $155,838. That is 100.00% of the round of financing. The total private offering amount was $155,838. The offering form was filled on 2015-05-04. The reason for the financing was: unspecified.
American Renal Associates Holdings is based in Texas. The firm’s business is Other Health Care. The form D was submitted by Michael R Costa Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. The company was incorporated in 2010. The filler’s address is: American Renal Holdings, Inc., 500 Cummings Center, Suite 6550, Beverly, Ma, Massachusetts, 01915. Joseph A. Carlucci is the related person in the form and it has address: 500 Cummings Center, Suite 6550, Beverly, Ma, Massachusetts, 01915.
Analysis of American Renal Associates Holdings Offering
On average, firms in the Other Health Care sector, sell 68.60% of the total offering amount. American Renal Associates Holdings sold 100.00% of the offering. Could this mean that the trust in American Renal Associates Holdings is high?The average offering amount for companies in the Other Health Care industry is $1.16 million. The offering was 86.57% smaller than the average of $1.16 million. Of course this should not be seen as negative. Firms raise funds for a variety of reasons and needs. The minimum investment for this financing is set at $25973. If you know more about the reasons for the fundraising, please comment below.
What is Form D? What It Is Used For
Form D disclosures could be used to track and understand better your competitors. The information in Form D is usually highly confidential for ventures and startups and they don’t like revealing it. This is because it reveals amount raised or planned to be raised as well as reasons for the financing. This could help competitors. Entrepreneurs usually want to keep their financing a ‘secret’ so they can stay in stealth mode for longer.
Why Fundraising Reporting Is Good For American Renal Associates Holdings Also
Despite Michael R Costa’s reporting disadvantages, American Renal Associates Holdings, Inc. could benefit from this reporting. First, it helps potential customers feel more safe to deal with a firm that is well financed. The odds are higher that it will stay in the business. Second, this could attract other investors such as venture-capital firms, funds and angels. Third, positive PR effects could even bring leasing firms and venture lenders.
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Living a Normal Life After Kidney Transplant - AllAfrica.com |
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By Susan Babijja
In 2006, at the age of 46, Lamberi Kamanya, today the chairman of the Rwanda Kidney Association, was diagnosed with kidney disease. He was in the hospital for almost two years before undergoing a kidney transplant.
Kidneys are two bean shaped organs, each about the size of a fist located just below the rib cage, one on each side of the spine. Every day the two kidneys filter about 120 to 150 quarts of blood to produce about 1 to 2 quarts of urine composed of wastes and extra fluid.
Kamanya suffered from different kinds of ailments for a year before discovering he had kidney failure. He could experience pain all over the body, joint pain, swelling of the face among others.
"I was sick for two years suffering from different diseases and they kept on treating them without improvement until a friend directed me to doctor Joseph Ntaridwa at King Faisal Hospital, who advised me to go for kidney test," he said
He said soon after receiving the results that he had kidney failure, he thought it was a death sentence, which made him sicker until he got doctors counseling.
"I was treated for two years at King Faisal hospital with the help of the ministry of health by that time, until I got someone who agreed to donate me a kidney and we went to India," he said. "I got a transplant and I am living a normal life like others now."
He said patients going to India for kidney transplant must be accompanied by the living donor, who must also be a family member. "After the kidney transplant together with other people in the same category, we decided to set up an association with the aim of finding donors so that we can help in kidney transplant. It is still expensive in Rwanda, it cost Frw 13 million at the time," he explained. "Since we formed the association, we just deal with kidney patients; we would like to also sensitize the community, but we don't have means," he said, calling on people who can donate kidneys to be helping those who are suffering. According to Dr Joseph Ntarindwa, consultant nephrologist at King Faisal Hospital, there is increase in number of patients requiring dialysis and few people know the advantage of early check-up. "Patients always come for treatment when it's too late, which is dangerous because chances are that such patients might never get better; patients who come earlier can be treated and get better," he said. He added that kidney failure is dangerous because sometimes there are no signs of the disease in early stages. The signs in later stages are normally high blood pressure, fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, nausea, thirst, swelling of the body, or blood in the urine. Kidney disease is a condition where the kidneys do not work effectively, eventually leading to kidney failure and the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. "But some insurance policies do not cover kidney dialysis," he said adding that the procedure, which is performed once a month, costs between Frw 900,000 and 1.2 million, depending on which procedure one uses. "The cost of dialysis is too high for most of the patients and there are no kidney transplant services in the country to rely on. The first kidney transplant was done in 2010 from the hospital," he added. The Kidney The Kidney removes waste material from the body in the form of urine. Failing to do so, waste and toxic chemicals, metabolites, among others, go on accumulating in the body; producing various toxic manifestations and culminating in death. Acute renal failure develops suddenly and is characterized by sudden diminution of urine flow. It usually develops because of severe dehydration or blood loss from the body when the perfusion of kidneys is reduced suddenly. Congenital abnormalities of the kidneys, infections of the kidneys, even malaria can lead to acute cessation of kidney function. Stones in the urinary tract or kidneys, stricture or obstruction anywhere in the urinary system also cause sudden renal failure, leading to death.
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