Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility in a pilot study of in vitro endothelialisation of PTFE grafts used as interposition arteriovenous fistulas in uraemic patients. Methods: Autologous saphenous vein endothelial cells were harvested and cultured on PTFE grafts in seven patients undergoing maintenance haemodialysis. The patients had several previous failures of vascular access sites. The patien

In this study perceived well-being and functioning in 28 uraemic patients (14 women and 14 men, mean age 54 years) were measured in the predialysis stage during conservative renal therapy and 3-9 months after having started maintenance dialysis treatment. The patients had participated in a patient education programme in the predialysis stage. Disease-specific symptoms, perceived health (Wealth Ind

This study describes and analyses how 38 predialytic uremic patients perceived their sense of well-being, functional ability, level of anxiety and sense of coherence. The patients in this study reported decreased sense of well-being, considerable functional disabilities, and a high level of anxiety when compared to a healthy reference group. These observations were independent of laboratory data w

Objectives: The effects of chronic cobalt exposure were studied in an isolated working model in a modified Langendorff preparation. Methods: Thirty-six rats were given either a conventional (control group) or a cobalt supplemented diet (cobalt group; 40 mg CoSO4 x 7 H2O/kg body weight/day). Sixteen of the animals were sacrificed and their hearts were excised after 16 weeks and the remaining 20 aft

Objective: To establish dose requirements (target hemoglobin > 100 g/L) and safety of subcutaneously administered epoetin beta. Design: Open multicenter study. Patients: Forty-five anemic patients (21 female, 24 male; mean age 55 years; range 20-79 years) who had been on continuous peritoneal dialysis for 1-157 months (mean 24 months). Thirty patients required blood transfusions during the year pr

We studied 37 hemodialysis patients during hemodialysis in order to assess the effects of dialysis on endogenous plasma coagulation inhibitors (antithrombin III, protein C, free and total protein S). The patients were examined prior to erythropoietin (EPO) treatment, upon reaching target hemoglobin (Hb) and after 3 months at steady state Hb levels. The levels of protein C increased significantly d

To determine the effect of erythropoietin (EPO) on patency the haemodynamics and morphology in haemodialysis fistula/graft were prospectively assessed using ultrasonographic two-dimensional imaging and colour flow Doppler together with pulsed Doppler, prior to and during partial correction of anaemia with EPO. Nineteen radiocephalic fistula and 11 loop grafts in 30 patients on routine maintenance

We examined 58 patients (38 men, 20 women; mean age: 45 ± 12 years, body mass index: 24 ± 4 kg/m2) with a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ranging from 3 to 32 ml/min, in order to determine the effects of a progressive decline in renal function on total hemoglobin (THb) and exercise capacity. The THb ranged from 185 to 759 g and the hemoglobin concentration ranged from 66 to 151 g/l. Maximal exerc

In this cross-sectional study, we examined biopsies from the vastus lateralis muscle of 13 predialytic uremic men (mean age 46 ± 8 years). Their average glomerular filtration rate was 14 ± 7 ml/min x 1.73 m2 and their maximal exercise capacity, measured by standardized exercise test on a bicycle ergometer, was 184 ± 45 W (94% of the expected norm). The proportion of type I fibers (type I%) in the

Excessive amounts of cobalt are cardiotoxic, although the mechanism for this toxicity remains unclear. We studied the effects of acute cobalt exposure on the activities of free radical scavengers in the myocardium in 5 groups of rats. Six rats served as a control group and were given a daily subcutaneous injection of 1 ml saline for 8 days. The other 4 groups of rats received a daily injection sub

It has previously been shown that cobalt accumulates in the myocardium of rats, mainly the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and the mitochondrial inner membrane. In order to investigate the mode of accumulation of cobalt in the SR, rats were given a dietary cobalt supplementation of 40 mg of CoSO4 × 7 H2O kg-1 body wt, after which the rats were sacrificed and the sarcoplasmic reticulum was isolated. Th

Anemia is already present in patients with moderate renal failure and is a major cause of the decline in exercise capacity seen in these patients. We examined the effects of erythropoietin (EPO) treatment in 12 predialytic uremic patients (EPO group: mean age 46 ± 12 years; 6 men, 6 women) with a mean glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 10 ± 4 ml/min x 1.73 m2. These patients were compared to a co

We examined the effects of physical training in 10 predialytic uremic patients (7 men, 3 women, mean age 47 ± 8 years) with an average glomerular filtration (GFR) of 15 ± 7 ml/min x 1.73 m2. All 10 patients participated in an exercise programme 3 times/week for 3 months and were compared to a control group of 9 patients with comparable baseline variables. The exercise group increased its maximal e

Cobalt has been shown to accumulate in the myocardium of uraemic patients and has been suggested as a myocardial toxin inhibiting mitochondrial respiration. In order to study the cellular effects of cobalt exposure three groups of rats (n=12 per group) were fed a diet containing 12% protein without supplementation or with 20 mg and 40 mg CoSO4 7 H2O/kg body weight/day respectively. After 8 weeks t