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June 2007 Issue of Renal And Urology News

Editor's Letter

Respect for the Placebo Effect

The placebo is an integral part of clinical research, helping investigators arrive at the true effect of an experimental treatment. The mechanisms underlying the placebo ...

Legal Issues

Hidden Trap in a Urologist’s Employment Contract

Dr. P, 32, was a new graduate from a respected urological residency program. He was considered well-trained, but not a star, in the field of ...

Malpractice News

Transplant Outpatients Often Subject to Drug Errors

Medication mistakes are common among patients who have received liver, kidney or pancreas transplants, researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine reported recently.

Malpractice Juries Favor Doctors, Researcher Concludes

Doctors get a fair shake from malpractice juries, a Missouri law professor has found. In fact, physicians often win cases experts expected they’d lose.

California Pharmacists Call for Prescription Reforms

Improving legibility and converting to electronic prescription systems top the recommendations from a blue-ribbon panel on medication mistakes in California.

Renal Nutrition Update

When Nutritional Interventions Help

Protein malnutrition develops in CKD patients frequently, especially those on chronic hemodialysis. In these patients, low serum albumin (less than 3.5 mg/dL) is closely linked ...

Your Money

Inflation Bonds: Not Such a Great Idea

WHEN INFLATION-indexed bonds first appeared in the 1990s, they were hailed as a smart way to protect your nest egg. The bonds are pegged to ...

Japan: Looking Like a Good Bet Again

CHINA AND India are booming, but investors shouldn’t overlook Japan. After years of stagnation, the country’s gross domestic product is expanding at an annual rate ...

General News

Age at RCC Diagnosis Is A Mortality Factor

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) diagnosed in patients at a younger age has more favorable histopathologic features and survival compared with RCC diagnosed in older patients, ...

CERA Outcomes Promising

ORLANDO--Continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA) corrects and maintains hemoglobin (Hb) levels at least as well as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in patients with CKD anemia, recent studies ...

Factors Predict Response to Epoetin

Older age, elevated BMI, and use of ACE inhibitors and/or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are associated with increased epoetin requirements when normalizing blood hemoglobin levels ...

Fewer Deaths With PD In First 90 Days

Patients who initiate renal replacement therapy on peritoneal dialysis (PD) are about 50% less likely to die within 90 days than those who start on ...

High BP, GFR Drop Linked

ORLANDO—Patients with high BP are at greater risk for declining renal function than those with normal BP, data suggest.

Mitomycin C Use is Beneficial

BERLIN—Long-term prophylaxis with mitomycin C (MMC) significantly decreases the risk of tumor recurrence compared with short-term prophylaxis with MMC or bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in patients ...

Novel Phosphate Binder Is Effective, Well Tolerated

ORLANDO—Iron-magnesium hydroxycarbonate (FMH), a novel phosphate binder, is effective in chronic hemodialysis patients, researchers reported here at the National Kidney Foundation 2007 Spring Clinical Meetings.

Hemodialysis Patients May Benefit from Fish Oil

ORLANDO—Fish oil supplementation boosts red blood cell (RBC) levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) in hemodialysis patients, a pilot study shows.

Metformin Use Raises Risk of Renal Function Decline

ORLANDO—Use of metformin alone or in combination with other hypoglycemic agents raises the risk of renal function decline, data show.

Phosphate-Binder Swap Has Benefits

ORLANDO—Switching end-stage renal disease patients to lanthanum carbonate monotherapy from a phosphate binder therapy maintains their previous serum phosphorus control, and aids patient and physician ...

Ice Water Helps ID Bladder Problems

Pain elicited by the ice-water test helps differentiate painful bladder syndrome (PBS) from overactive bladder disorders, according to a new study.

Intrarenal Fenoldopam Cuts CIN Risk

Fenoldopam delivered into the renal artery may help prevent contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN).

SWL Clears Smaller Stones Better

BERLIN—The best results with shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) as a monotherapy for upper ureteric stones are achieved when stones are less than 1 cm, according ...

Brachytherapy Sexual Effects Defined

BERLIN—Two recent French studies have characterized the effect of prostate brachytherapy on erectile and ejaculatory function.

Ejaculatory Dysfunction Common

BERLIN—Ejaculatory dysfunction affects almost half of men undergoing screening for prostate cancer, a study found.

New Transplant Rules Issued

New regulations for organ transplantation issued by the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) emphasize survival rates and protecting the rights of living donors.

Lower Ceiling for Hb Levels Recommended

ORLANDO—Target hemoglobin levels generally should be in the 11.0-12.0 g/dL range in CKD patients receiving erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs), according to a draft update of ...

New PCa Test More Accurate Than PSA

An experimental blood test has detected prostate cancer so accurately that it could supplant PSA levels as a screening mechanism for the disease, according to ...

Once-Monthly Darbepoetin Dosing Okay

Two studies suggest once-monthly dosing of darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp, Amgen) can effectively treat CKD anemia.

Epoetin Alfa Extended Dosing Is Effective

Starting anemia non-dialysis CKD patients on extended-dosing regimens of epoetin alfa can safely and effectively achieve target hemoglobin levels, data show.

CT Fluoroscopy Okay for Nephrostomy

SEATTLE—When patients cannot be imaged with ultrasound, CT fluoroscopy can be used safely and effectively for percutaneous nephrostomy tube placement, British researchers reported here at ...

Cystoscopy Superior to Urine Test

THE SENSITIVITY of the UroVysion DNA urinary test is too low to be considered an alternative to cystoscopy in the follow-up of patients with superficial ...

Fixing Failing Fistulas

SEATTLE—Use of the ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) balloon immediately after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is equivalent to the peripheral cutting balloon (PCB) for treating venous stenosis in ...

Over-The-Wire Is an Option

SEATTLE—Over-the-wire exchange (OTWE) and catheter removal and replacement (RR) are similarly effective for managing fungal infections associated with tunneled dialysis catheters, according to a new ...

Cover Articles

New Transplant Rules Issued

New regulations for organ transplantation issued by the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) emphasize survival rates and protecting the rights of living donors.

New PCa Test More Accurate Than PSA

An experimental blood test has detected prostate cancer so accurately that it could supplant PSA levels as a screening mechanism for the disease, according to ...

Lower Ceiling for Hb Levels Recommended

ORLANDO—Target hemoglobin levels generally should be in the 11.0-12.0 g/dL range in CKD patients receiving erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs), according to a draft update of ...

Feature

Active Surveillance in PCa: When Is it the Right Choice?

For some men with localized prostate cancer, active surveillance has emerged in recent years as a viable management option. Defined as rigorous monitoring with the ...

Your Practice

Code Correctly for Hypertensive CKD

Recent changes in the diagnosis codes for hypertension will affect the billing for CKD patients. Coding for patients with both hypertension and kidney disease presents ...