Rare Disease Becoming More Common in Dialysis Patients

The incidence of calciphylaxis (a highly morbid syndrome of vascular calcification and skin necrosis) per 10,000 chronic hemodialysis patients rose significantly from 3.7 in 2007 to 5.7 in 2011, researchers found. Also, mortality rates among calciphylaxis patients were 2.5 to 3 times higher than average mortality rates for chronic hemodialysis patients. For this Journal of General Internal Medicine study, researchers developed an algorithm using the Partners Research Patient Data Registry, identifying 11,451 patients on chronic hemodialysis from 2002 to 2011. They then used the algorithm to determine the incidence of calciphylaxis and associated mortality using the USRDS database.