Michael Lazarus

TL;DR: Attending an options class predialysis was associated with more frequent selection of home dialysis, fewer tunneled HD catheters, and lower mortality risk during the first 90 days of dialysis therapy.

TL;DR: Conversion to treatment with nocturnal hemodialysis associates with favorable clinical features, laboratory biomarkers, and improved survival compared with propensity score-matched controls, notwithstanding the possibility of residual selection bias.

TL;DR: In a large and representative population of incident US dialysis patients, catheter use remains very high during the first year of HD care and is associated with high mechanical complication and bloodstream infection rates.

TL;DR: Depressive symptoms reported within the first 90 days of dialysis were associated with greater dialysis withdrawal and mortality risk over the succeeding year, and further evaluation for and treatment of depression during this early vulnerable period may improve symptoms, increase survival and decrease premature withdrawal from dialysis.

TL;DR: Serologic testing for either screening or case-finding purposes, dialysis procedures, renal transplantation, and seroepidemiologic research must be conducted with great attention to specificity; serum samples frozen for prolonged periods are especially likely to be nonspecifically ELISA positive.