Category: News

Recent Publications by Network Members

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As a network, we want to showcase the work being done by our members. Listed below are recent publications by some of our network members, with our committee members featured in bold font. If you have a publication you want to be posted, please send the title and first author to Alicia (amurdoch@cansolveckd.ca). These publications will also be highlighted in our quarterly newsletter.

A Mixed Method Investigation to Determine Priorities for Improving Information, Interaction, and Individualization of Care Among Individuals on In-center Hemodialysis: The Triple I Study

Can J Kidney Health Dis., 19 Oct 2020

Krista Rossum, Juli Finlay, Michael McCormick, Arlene Desjarlais, Hans Vorster, George Fontaine, Melanie Talson, Priscila Ferreira Da Silva, Kaytlynn V. Soroka, Rachelle Sass, Matthew James, Allison Tong, Claire Harris, Yuriy Melnyk, Manish M. Sood, Neesh Pannu, Rita S. Suri, Karthik Tennankore, Stephanie Thompson, Marcello Tonelli, Clara Bohm

International consensus definitions of clinical trial outcomes for kidney failure: 2020

Kidney International, 01 Oct 2020

Adeera Levin, Rajiv Agarwal, William G. Herrington, Hiddo L. Heerspink, Johannes F.E. Mann, Shahnaz Shahinfar, Katherine R. Tuttle, Jo-Ann Donner, Vivekanand Jha, Masaomi Nangaku, Dick de Zeeuw, Meg J. Jardine, Kenneth W. Mahaffey, Aliza M. Thompson, Mary Beaucage, Kate Chong, Glenda V. Roberts, Duane Sunwold, Hans Vorster, Madeleine Warren, Sandrine Damster, Charu Malik and Vlado Perkovic; on behalf of the participant authors of the International Society of Nephrology’s 1st International Consensus Meeting on Defining Kidney Failure in Clinical Trials

A RAND-Modified Delphi on Key Indicators to Measure the Efficiency of Living Kidney Donor Candidate Evaluations

CJASN, 24 Sep 2020

Steven Habbous, Lianne Barnieh, Kenneth Litchfield, Susan McKenzie, Marian Reich, Ngan N. Lam, Istvan Mucsi, Ann Bugeja, Seychelle Yohanna, Rahul Mainra, Kate Chong, Daniel Fantus, G V Ramesh Prasad, Christine Dipchand, Jagbir Gill, Leah Getchell and Amit X. Garg

Frailty and the Kidney Transplant Wait List: Protocol for a Multicenter Prospective Study

Can J Kidney Health Dis., 10 Sep 2020
Karthik K. Tennankore (CNTN Scientific Operations and Executive Committees co-chair),  Lakshman Gunaratnam, Rita S. Suri (CNTN Scientific Operations and Executive Committees member), Seychelle Yohanna, Michael Walsh, Navdeep Tangri, Bhanu Prasad (CNTN Communications and Engagement Committee member), Nessa Gogan, Kenneth Rockwood, Steve Doucette, Laura Sills, Bryce Kiberd, Tammy Keough-Ryan, Kenneth West, Amanda Vinson

Feasibility Study of a Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating Renal Denervation as a Possible Treatment Option in Patients With Loin Pain Hematuria Syndrome

Can J Kidney Health Dis., 26 Aug 2020

Bhanu Prasad (Communications and Engagement committee member), Maryam Jafari, Kaval Kour, Kunal Goyal, Francisco Garcia

Nephrologist views regarding cannabinoid use in advanced chronic kidney disease and dialysis: a survey

J Pain Symptom Manage., 14Aug2020

David Collister (Scientific Operations and Executive committee member), Karthik Tennankore (Scientific Operations and Executive committee member), Sara N. Davison, Ron Wald, Christian Rabbat, Michael Walsh

Barriers to home hemodialysis across Saskatchewan, Canada: A cross-sectional survey of in-centre hemodialysis patients

Can J Kidney Health Dis., 10Aug2020

Lucas Diebel, Maryam Jafari, Sachin Shah, Christine Day, Connie McNaught, Bhanu Prasad (Communications and Engagement committee member)

A cluster randomized controlled trial for the Evaluation of routinely Measured PATient reported outcomes in HemodialYsis care (EMPATHY): a study protocol

BMC Health Serv Res., 10 Aug 2020

Jeffrey A Johnson, Fatima Al Sayah, Robert Buzinski, Bonnie Corradetti, Sara N Davison, Meghan J Elliott, Scott Klarenbach, Braden Manns, Kara Schick-Makaroff, Hilary Short, Chandra Thomas, Michael Walsh

Canadian Society of Nephrology Commentary on the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes 2017 Clinical Practice Guideline Update for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, Prevention, and Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease-Mineral and Bone Disorder

Can J Kidney Health Dis., 04 Aug 2020

Rachel M. Holden, Reem A. Mustafa, R. Todd Alexander, Marisa Battistella, Micheli U. Bevilacqua, Greg Knoll, Fabrice Mac-Way, Martina Resilerova, Ron Wald, Philip D. Acott, Patrick Feltmate, Allan Grill, Kailash K. Jindal, Meena Karsanji, Bryce A. Kiberd, Sara Mahdavi, Kallee McCarron, Amber O. Molnar (CNTN Communications and Engagement Committee co-chair), Maury Pinsk, Celia Rodd, Steven D. Soroka, Amanda J. Vinson, Deborah Zimmerman, Catherine M. Clase (CNTN Scientific Operations Committee member)

Timing of Initiation of Renal-Replacement Therapy in Acute Kidney Injury

N Engl J Med, 16 Jul 2020

Sean M Bagshaw, Ron Wald, Neill K J Adhikari, Rinaldo Bellomo, Bruno R da Costa, Didier Dreyfuss, Bin Du, Martin P Gallagher, Stéphane Gaudry, Eric A Hoste, François Lamontagne, Michael Joannidis, Giovanni Landoni, Kathleen D Liu, Daniel F McAuley, Shay P McGuinness, Javier A Neyra, Alistair D Nichol, Marlies Ostermann, Paul M Palevsky, Ville Pettilä, Jean-Pierre Quenot, Haibo Qiu, Bram Rochwerg, Antoine G Schneider, Orla M Smith, Fernando Thomé, Kevin E Thorpe, Suvi Vaara, Matthew Weir, Amanda Y Wang, Paul Young, Alexander Zarbock, STARRT-AKI Investigators; Canadian Critical Care Trials Group, the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group, the United Kingdom Critical Care Research Group, the Canadian Nephrology Trials Network, and the Irish Critical Care Trials Group.

Economic Benefits of Switching From Intravenous to Subcutaneous Epoetin Alfa for the Management of Anemia in Hemodialysis Patients

Can J Kidney Health Dis., 04 Jun 2020

Bhanu Prasad (Communications and Engagement Committee member), Maryam Jafari, Julie Toppings, Linda Gross, Joanne Kappel, Flora Au

Frequency, Timing, and Prediction of Major Bleeding Complications From Percutaneous Renal Biopsy

Can J Kidney Health Dis., 25 May 2020

Melissa Schoor (Capacity Building Committee member), Pavel S Roshanov, Matthew A Weir, Andrew A House

Canadian-Australasian Randomised trial of screening kidney transplant candidates for coronary artery disease—A trial protocol for the CARSK study

Am Health J, 22 May 2019

Tracey Ying, Jagbir Gill, Angela Webster, S Joseph Kim, Rachael Morton, Scott W Klarenbach, Patrick Kelly, Timothy Ramsay, Gregory A Knoll, Helen Pilmore, Gillian Hughes, Charles A Herzog, Steven Chadban, John S Gill

The Burden of Frailty on Mood, Cognition, Quality of Life, and Level of Independence in Patients on Hemodialysis: Regina Hemodialysis Frailty Study

Can J Kidney Health Dis., 02 May 2020

Maryam Jafari, Kaval Kour, Shelley Giebel, Idunnu Omisore, Bhanu Prasad (Communications and Engagement Committee member)

Plasma Exchange and Glucocorticoids in Severe ANCA-Associated Vasculitis

N Engl J Med., 13 Feb 2020 Feb

Michael Walsh, Peter A Merkel, Chen-Au Peh, Wladimir M Szpirt, Xavier Puéchal, Shouichi Fujimoto, Carmel M Hawley, Nader Khalidi, Oliver Floßmann, Ron Wald, Louis P Girard, Adeera Levin, Gina Gregorini, Lorraine Harper, William F Clark, Christian Pagnoux, Ulrich Specks, Lucy Smyth, Vladimir Tesar, Toshiko Ito-Ihara, Janak Rashme de Zoysa, Wojciech Szczeklik, Luis Felipe Flores-Suárez, Simon Carette, Loïc Guillevin, Charles D Pusey, Alina L Casian, Biljana Brezina, Andrea Mazzetti, Carol A McAlear, Elizabeth Broadhurst, Donna Reidlinger, Samir Mehta, Natalie Ives, David R W Jayne, PEXIVAS Investigators

How Canada can better embed randomized trials into clinical care

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In the most recent issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Drs. Srinivas Murthy, Robert A. Fowler and Andreas Laupacis wrote an editorial about how the speed with which the UK executed the nation-wide priority-driven RECOVERY trial is not currently possible in Canada. 

From the editorial: “Those who manage and fund Canada’s health care systems need to view high-priority trials as an integral part of clinical care and to provide adequate and stable infrastructure funding, thus avoiding the current time-consuming and expensive process of developing separate data-sharing agreements and contracts with many hospitals and organizations. ”

You view the editorial online or download a PDF copy.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Patient Engagement

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Patient engagement is a relatively new way of conducting research in Canada and many researchers are probably still wondering how to do it well. Dr. Simon Hatcher and his team at the Ottawa Hospital developed a graphic novel style tip sheet, “Top 10 Recommendations for Researchers Working with Lived Experience Partners“.

The comic was created by people with lived experience of suicide at the REFLECT research forum which brought together patients and caregivers as well as suicide prevention researchers, trainees and policy-makers.

The top 10 recommendations are:

  1. Use common and clear language
  2. Allow for customization to patient partner’s needs. Be flexible.
  3. Be authentic in the approach to patient-oriented research. Avoid tokenism.
  4. Define roles. Invite and acknowledge everyone’s contributions.
  5. Balance power dynamics.
  6. Invite patient partners to do more than what they are recruited for.
  7. Compensate fairly and as a matter of course. Reimburse expenses.
  8. Build relationships through honesty and trust.
  9. Ensure governance through integrity and accountability.
  10. Establish and encourage continuous communication and feedback.

Feasibility study into LPHS

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Dr. Bhanu Prasad and his research team are conducting a feasibility study of a randomized controlled trial investigating renal denervation as a possible treatment option in patients with Loin Pain Hematuria Syndrome (LPHS). Dr. Prasad presented this study at the CNTN meeting in November 2019 in Washington, D.C and we look forward to hearing more about the study at future CNTN meetings.

Loin Pain Hematuria Syndrome (LPHS) is a poorly understood clinical condition characterized by severe pain localized to the kidney but in the absence of identifiable urinary tract disease. Case reports/series have shown renal denervation via catheter-based radiofrequency ablation to be an effective therapeutic option for the treatment of LPHS. To determine whether catheter-based renal denervation is a meaningful addition to the treatment options in these often difficult to treat LPHS patients, a randomized clinical trial is needed. Prior to conducting a definitive trial that focuses on patient outcomes, ensuring the feasibility of undertaking such a trial is required. As such, we will conduct a single-centre randomized control feasibility trial designed to determine viability and provide framework and direction for a larger trial.

The research team will conduct a double-blinded, parallel-group, partial crossover, sham-controlled, randomized feasibility trial on 10 LPHS patients at the Regina General Hospital, Saskatchewan. Participants will be randomized into either renal denervation (treatment group) or a sham treatment (control group). Data (pain, quality of life, mood, disability) will be collected from both groups at baseline, 6 weeks, 3 and 6 months after the intervention. After the initial 6-month follow-up is over, the participants who received the sham procedure will cross over into the treatment group and will be followed for an additional 6 months in the same manner as the treatment group.

The lessons learnt from this trial will lay the framework and direction for conducting a multi-site randomized controlled trial involving a larger cohort of patients.

CSN e-Poster available for viewing

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On behalf of the network, an abstract was submitted and accept for the CSN annual general meeting entitled, “A New Vision for Nephrology Trials in Canada” . The meeting was cancelled but the poster was submitted and can be found on the Can-SOLVE CKD website and the CSN poster website.

As part of the Can-SOLVE CKD virtual network update, a short 7-minute presentation was given by Alicia Murdoch, the CNTN coordinator. You can view the recording of the presentation here.

CNTN represented on CSN Board of Directors

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The Canadian Society of Nephrology (CSN) announced their new president and board of directors today. We are pleased to share that 3 CNTN committee members are on the new board.

Rita Suri, member of the Scientific Operations and Executive committees, will be the chair of the CSN Scientific committee.

 

 

 

Amber Molnar, co-chair of the Communications and Engagement committee, will be representing the province of Ontario on the CSN board.

 

 

 

Bhanu Prasad, member of the Communications and Engagement committee, will be the chair of the CSN Community Nephrology committee.

 

 

 

Congratulations to everyone who was elected to the board.

COVID-19 Related Trials Listing

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Below is a list of COVID-19 specific study websites and websites with study lists.  As the number of COVID-19 related studies increases, we will do our best to keep this page updated.

  • Health care workers and those living with COVID-19 positive people in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec are eligible to participate in a trial of post-exposure prophylaxis at http://covid-19research.ca
  • COVID-19-COS project brings together patients, the public and health professionals to identify, prioritise and agree on the most important outcomes for research in COVID-19. Round 1 is planned to close on April 10, visit https://www.covid-19-cos.org/ to participate.
  • COVID-19 Resources Canada lists ongoing Canadian trials that can be sorted by Principal Investigator, Institution or Research Category.

Active Canadian trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov can be found here.

COVID-19 Trial Management Resources

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, most hospitals have halted all non-emergency visits, greatly affecting the conduct of clinical trials. Below are links to both Health Canada and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance on the management of clinical trials during this time, as well as various Canadian research organizations. This post will be updated as more resources come to our attention.

We are working to collect a list of trial resources to help trialist overcome challenges and keep their research program moving forward. If you have had success or suggestions that you can share, please email amurdoch@cansolveckd.ca.

Canadian Institutes for Health Research FAQs on Impact of COVID-19 – https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/51917.html#faq

Health Canada Guidance on Management of Clinical Trials during the COVID-19 pandemic – https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/drug-products/announcements/management-clinical-trials-during-covid-19-pandemic.html

US FDA Guidance for Clinical Trials during COVID-19 – https://www.fda.gov/media/136238/download

COVID-19 Resources Canada – https://covid19resources.ca/activeresearch.html

Clinical Trials Ontario –  https://www.ctontario.ca/covid-19-clinical-trial-resources/

Clinical Trials BC – https://www.clinicaltrialsbc.ca/updates-for-clinical-trials-bc-regarding-covid-19/

Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI)  – https://www.cihi.ca/en/covid-19-resources

Spring Meeting Cancelled

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In response to the current situation and in light of the cancellation of the CSN Annual General Meeting, we will be cancelling the 2020 CNTN Spring Meeting in order to maintain the health and well-being our team, our members, and the community at large. If you have any questions, please contact Alicia Murdoch at amurdoch@cansolveckd.ca.

We thank you for your patience and continued support as we navigate this challenging, and unprecedented, situation.