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Mendu, Mallika

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Mendu

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Mallika

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Mendu, Mallika
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    Non-tunneled versus tunneled dialysis catheters for acute kidney injury requiring renal replacement therapy: a prospective cohort study
    (BioMed Central, 2017) Mendu, Mallika; May, Megan F.; Kaze, Arnaud D.; Graham, Dionne A.; Cui, Salena; Chen, Margaret E.; Shin, Naomi; Aizer, Ayal A.; Waikar, Sushrut
    Background: Acute kidney injury requiring renal replacement therapy (AKI-RRT) is associated with high morbidity, mortality and resource utilization. The type of vascular access placed for AKI-RRT is an important decision, for which there is a lack of evidence-based guidelines. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study over a 16-month period with 154 patients initiated on AKI-RRT via either a non-tunneled dialysis catheter (NTDC) or a tunneled dialysis catheter (TDC) at an academic hospital. We compared differences in renal replacement delivery and mechanical and infectious outcomes between NTDCs and TDCs. Results: Patients who received TDCs had significantly better RRT delivery, both with continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) and intermittent hemodialysis (IHD), compared to patients who received NTDCs; these findings were confirmed after multivariable adjustment for AKI-specific disease severity score, history of chronic kidney disease, renal consult team, and AKI cause. In CVVH and IHD, the median venous and arterial blood flow pressures were significantly higher with TDCs compared to NTDCs (p < 0.001). Additionally for CVVH, the median number of interruptions per catheter was higher with NTDCs compared to TDCs (Rate Ratio (RR) 2.7; p < 0.001), and for IHD, a higher median blood flow was seen with TDCs (p < 0.001). There were a significantly higher number of mechanical complications with NTDCs (RR 13.6 p = 0.001). No significant difference was observed between TDCs and NTDCs for positive blood cultures per catheter. Conclusions: Compared to NTDCs, TDCs for patients with AKI-RRT had improved RRT delivery and fewer mechanical complications. Initial TDC placement for AKI-RRT should be considered when not clinically contraindicated given the potential for improved RRT delivery and outcomes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12882-017-0760-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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    Excessive diagnostic testing in acute kidney injury
    (BioMed Central, 2016) Leaf, David; Srivastava, Anand; Zeng, Xiaoxi; McMahon, Gearoid; Croy, Heather E.; Mendu, Mallika; Kachalia, Allen; Waikar, Sushrut
    Background: The patterns, performance characteristics, and yield of diagnostic tests ordered for the evaluation of acute kidney injury (AKI) have not been rigorously evaluated. Methods: We characterized the frequency of AKI diagnostic testing for urine, blood, radiology, and pathology tests in all adult inpatients who were admitted with or developed AKI (N = 4903 patients with 5731 AKI episodes) during a single calendar year. We assessed the frequency of abnormal test results overall and by AKI stage. We manually reviewed electronic medical records to evaluate the diagnostic yield of selected urine, blood, and radiology tests. Diagnostic yield of urine and blood tests was determined based on whether an abnormal test affected AKI diagnosis or management, whereas diagnostic yield of radiology tests was based on whether an abnormal test resulted in a procedural intervention. In sensitivity analyses we also evaluated appropriateness of testing using prespecified criteria. Results: Frequency of testing increased with higher AKI stage for nearly all diagnostic tests, whereas frequency of detecting an abnormal result increased for some, but not all, tests. Frequency of detecting an abnormal result was highly variable across tests, ranging from 0 % for anti-glomerular basement membrane testing to 71 % for urine protein testing. Many of the tests evaluated had low diagnostic yield. In particular, selected urine and blood tests were unlikely to impact AKI diagnosis or management, whereas radiology tests had greater clinical utility. Conclusions: In patients with AKI, many of the diagnostic tests performed, even when positive or abnormal, may have limited clinical utility.