a r t i c l e i n f o Since the early 1990s, South Korea has been expanding its expressways. As of July 2013, a total of 173 expressway service areas (ESAs) have been established. Among these, 31 ESAs were closed due to financial deficits. To address this challenge, this study aimed to develop a decision support system for determining the optimal size of a new ESA, focusing on the profitability...

Although epoetin-induced antibody (Ab)-mediated pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) was very rare prior to 1998, a large increase in the number of global cases was observed from 1999 to 2002 in patients treated with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) for the anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The number of global cases of this immunological form of PRCA has declined precipitou...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the benefit/risk profile of epoetin α biosimilar with the erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) originators when administered to naïve patients from clinical practice. DESIGN Population-based observational cohort study. SETTING All residents in the Lazio Region, Italy, with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or cancer retrieved from the Electronic Therapeutic Plan (ETP) ...

BACKGROUND The EUMDS registry is an unique prospective, longitudinal observational registry enrolling newly diagnosed patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) from 17 European countries from both university hospitals and smaller regional hospitals. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to describe the usage and clinical impact of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in 1696 p...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) are common in hemodialysis patients using central venous catheters, and catheter occlusion also occurs frequently. The Tego needlefree connector was developed to reduce the incidence of these complications; however, existing studies of its effectiveness and safety are limited. MATERIALS AND METHODS This retrospective a...

BACKGROUND Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) stimulate formation of red blood cells by binding to and activating Epo receptors (EpoR) on erythroid progenitor cells. Beyond successful treatment of anemia, ESAs have been reported to reduce damage following insult to organs, including the kidney, possibly via direct activation of EpoR. However, data on ESA effects outside hematopoietic func...

BACKGROUND Anemia is common in non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) patients, but detailed information on prevalence and treatment is lacking. METHODS We evaluated anemia prevalence and treatment using two datasets: the Medicare 20% random sample (ages 66-85 years), and the Truven Health MarketScan database (ages 18-63 years). We selected stage 3-5 NDD-CKD patients with and...

Element Stewardship Abstracts (ESAs) are prepared to provide The Nature Conservancy's Stewardship staff and other land managers with current management-related information on those species and communities that are most important to protect, or most important to control. The abstracts organize and summarize data from numerous sources including literature and researchers and managers actively wor...

I write this editorial in deference to the many experts who devote their careers to this important field. In this editorial, I simply report the journeyman route of a medical oncologist who is desperately trying to improve the outcomes of women suffering from breast cancer. At the end of the 1990s, there was much hope that erythropoie-sis stimulating agents (ESAs) would improve the survival of ...