Browsing by Author "Brennan, Daniel C."

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    Apical Sparing Pattern of Longitudinal Strain and Positive Bone Scintigraphy in Metastatic Myocardial Calcification
    (Elsevier, 2020-04-22) Zhang, Kathleen W.; Sadhu, Justin S.; Miller, Brent W.; Brennan, Daniel C.; Bierhals, Andrew J.; Chen, Jie-Fu; Lin, Chieh-Yu; Vader, Justin M.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    An apical sparing pattern of longitudinal strain and positive radionuclide bone scintigraphy are believed to be specific for the diagnosis of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis. We report on a young woman with apical sparing of longitudinal strain and positive bone scintigraphy who was found to have metastatic myocardial calcification at autopsy.
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    Cell-Free DNA and Active Rejection in Kidney Allografts
    (American Society of Nephrology, 2017-07) Bloom, Roy D.; Bromberg, Jonathan S.; Poggio, Emilio D.; Bunnapradist, Suphamai; Langone, Anthony J.; Sood, Puneet; Matas, Arthur J.; Mehta, Shikha; Mannon, Roslyn B.; Sharfuddin, Asif; Fischbach, Bernard; Narayanan, Mohanram; Jordan, Stanley C.; Cohen, David; Weir, Matthew R.; Hiller, David; Prasad, Preethi; Woodward, Robert N.; Grskovic, Marica; Sninsky, John J.; Yee, James P.; Brennan, Daniel C.; Circulating Donor-Derived Cell-Free DNA in Blood for Diagnosing Active Rejection in Kidney Transplant Recipients (DART) Study Investigators; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Histologic analysis of the allograft biopsy specimen is the standard method used to differentiate rejection from other injury in kidney transplants. Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) is a noninvasive test of allograft injury that may enable more frequent, quantitative, and safer assessment of allograft rejection and injury status. To investigate this possibility, we prospectively collected blood specimens at scheduled intervals and at the time of clinically indicated biopsies. In 102 kidney recipients, we measured plasma levels of dd-cfDNA and correlated the levels with allograft rejection status ascertained by histology in 107 biopsy specimens. The dd-cfDNA level discriminated between biopsy specimens showing any rejection (T cell-mediated rejection or antibody-mediated rejection [ABMR]) and controls (no rejection histologically), P<0.001 (receiver operating characteristic area under the curve [AUC], 0.74; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.61 to 0.86). Positive and negative predictive values for active rejection at a cutoff of 1.0% dd-cfDNA were 61% and 84%, respectively. The AUC for discriminating ABMR from samples without ABMR was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.97). Positive and negative predictive values for ABMR at a cutoff of 1.0% dd-cfDNA were 44% and 96%, respectively. Median dd-cfDNA was 2.9% (ABMR), 1.2% (T cell-mediated types ≥IB), 0.2% (T cell-mediated type IA), and 0.3% in controls (P=0.05 for T cell-mediated rejection types ≥IB versus controls). Thus, dd-cfDNA may be used to assess allograft rejection and injury; dd-cfDNA levels <1% reflect the absence of active rejection (T cell-mediated type ≥IB or ABMR) and levels >1% indicate a probability of active rejection.
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    Existing Transplant Nephrology Compensation Models and Opportunities for Equitable Pay
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2022) Josephson, Michelle A.; Wiseman, Alexander C.; Tucker, J. Kevin; Segal, Mark S.; Schmidt, Rebecca J.; Mujtaba, Muhammad A.; Gurley, Susan B.; Gaston, Robert S.; Doshi, Mona D.; Brennan, Daniel C.; Moe, Sharon M.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) formed the ASN Task Force on Academic Nephrologist Compensation and Productivity in 2020 to understand how the subspecialty is evolving and where there are needs for alignment in compensation in US transplant centers. The task force's review of the roles and responsibilities of transplant nephrologists is in the companion perspective (1). Transplant nephrologists are required for successful kidney transplantation, the ideal treatment from a survival and quality-of-life perspective for patients with kidney failure (2,3). Unfortunately, work relative value unit (wRVU) requirements for compensation models vary tremendously across institutions and limit the ability to adequately staff programs. This article addresses transplant nephrology models of care, how different models affect funds flow and compensation, and opportunities to more equitably compensate transplant nephrologists.
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    The Importance of Transplant Nephrology to a Successful Kidney Transplant Program
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2022) Moe, Sharon M.; Brennan, Daniel C.; Doshi, Mona D.; Gaston, Robert S.; Gurley, Susan B.; Mujtaba, Muhammad A.; Schmidt, Rebecca J.; Segal, Mark S.; Tucker, J. Kevin; Wiseman, Alexander C.; Josephson, Michelle A.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Nephrologists are responsible for the care of patients with a diverse array of systemic diseases, comorbidities, and kidney issues across a variety of service locations (clinic, inpatient, dialysis unit). As the field of nephrology becomes increasingly complex, there has been a need for advanced training and subspecialization, similar to the transformation cardiology experienced with heart failure, electrophysiology, and interventional cardiology. As a result, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) formed the ASN Task Force on Academic Nephrologist Compensation and Productivity to begin to understand the needed transformation, especially as it relates to assessing clinical productivity and compensation. Members of the task force included nephrology division chiefs, transplant program directors, and transplant nephrologists, representing academic and community transplant programs across the United States. The group met virtually throughout 2021 to discuss specific job functions, roles, responsibilities, and compensation models, and the discussion and conclusions follow. The flow of transplant funds from the hospital to the physician and transplant nephrology models of care are further discussed in a companion Perspective.