DaVita Inc., a leading provider of kidney care services for those diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD), in conjunction with DaVita Clinical Research® (DCR), recently contributed fifteen abstracts to the 41st Annual Meeting & Scientific Exposition of the American Society of Nephrology. These abstracts were developed both internally and through intellectual partnerships with leaders in nephrology.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020729/DAVITALOGO)

DaVita Chief Medical Officer, Allen R. Nissenson, MD, FACP, FASN and Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA states, "DaVita is committed to improving the lives of patients with kidney disease. Generating new knowledge through research is an important component of meeting this commitment. The Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO) in its Relentless Pursuit of Quality will continue to work closely with DCR and our external academic partners to significantly impact patient outcomes through clinical research."

The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) is organized and operated primarily for scientific and educational purposes, and advocates for the development of national health policies to improve the quality of care for renal patients. Renal Week 2008 is November 4-9 in Philadelphia, PA. DaVita Clinical Research collaborates with leading academic institutions to advance the knowledge and practice of kidney care for dialysis patients.

The abstracts featured include:

-- Association of Low Body Mass Index (BMI) and Weight Loss with Increased Mortality in Transplant-Wait-Listed Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD PhD; Elani Streja, MPH; Jennie Jing, MS; Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD; David Van Wyck, MD; Gabriel M. Danovitch, MD; and Suphamai Bunnapradist, MD.

-- Association Between Laboratory Surrogates of Renal Osteodystrophy and ESA Responsiveness in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD PhD; Deborah L. Regidor, PhD; Jennie Jing, MS; David Van Wyck, MD; and Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD.

-- Survival Benefit Associated with Cinacalet Use in a Large Cohort of Hemodialysis patients with Secondary Hyperparathyroidism

Geoffrey Block, MD; Gerard Smits, PhD; Martha Persky, RN; Stephanie Brillhart; Jiannong Liu; and Wendy St-Peter.

-- Risk Factors Associated with Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Hemodialysis Patients: A Case-Control Study

Patrick H Pun, MD; Ruediger Lehrich, MD; Emily Honeycutt, MS; Linda Shaw, MS; and John P Middleton, MD.

-- Catheter Removal is Associated with Improved Serum Albumin Levels in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

Debbie Benner, MA RD CSR; Ram Dukkipati, MD; Joe Weldon, MBA; David Van Wyck, MD; and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD PhD.

-- Mortality Predictability of the 5-Year Time-Averaged Serum Calcium in 151,555 Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

Jessica E. Miller, MPH; Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD; David Van Wyck, MD; Joel D. Kopple, MD; and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD PhD.

-- Greater Fluid Retention is Associated with Higher Mortality in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

Deborah L. Regidor, PhD; Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD; Suphamai Bunnapradist, MD; David Van Wyck, MD; Tamara B. Horwich, MD; Gregg C. Fonarow, MD; and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD PhD.

-- Independent Association of Hemodialysis Treatment Session Time and 5-Year Survival in 88,153 Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

Jessica E. Miller, MPH; Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD; Jennie Jing, MS; David Van Wyck, MD; and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD PhD.

-- Association between Time-Averaged (Cumulative) Hemodialysis Dose and 5-year Survival CKD Patients

Jessica E. Miller, MPH; Elani Streja, MPH; Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD; David Van Wyck, MD; and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD PhD.

-- Higher Body mass Index (BMI) at the Time of Transplantation is Associated with Greater 5.Year Patient and Graft Survival in 8,529 Renal Transplant Recipients

Elani Streja, MPH; Suphamai Bunnapradist, MD; Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD; Gabriel M. Danovitch, MD; David Van Wyck, MD; and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD PhD.

-- Association of Low Serum Calcium with ESA Hypo-Responsiveness in Hemodialysis Patients

Deborah L. Regidor, PhD; Jennie Jing, MS; David Van Wyck, MD; Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD; and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD PhD.

-- Can Better Nutritional Status Explain Greater Survival of Hispanic Hemodialysis Patients?

Elani Streja, MPH; Stephen F. Derose, MD MPH; Steven J. Jacobsen, MD PhD; Scott Rasgon, MD; Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD; David Van Wyck, MD; and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD PhD.

-- Managing the Complexities of CKD Mineral and Bone Disorders: A Unique Tool

Debbie Benner, MA RD CSR; Mary Burgess, RD; Allen Nissenson, MD; and David Van Wyck, MD.

-- Clinical Performance in a Large Dialysis organization: Effect of Length of Facility Ownership

David Van Wyck, MD; John Robertson, MD; Allen Nissenson, MD; Robert Provenzano, MD; and Dennis Kogod.

-- Erythrocyte Membrane fatty acid composition in ESRD patients

Charles Kert, MD; Peter Klementowicz, MD; Joyce Clouser, RD; and William S. Harris, PhD.

DCR, through its commitment to quality, timely and accurate clinical trials, plays a valuable role by partnering with physicians, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop and progress new drug therapies for patients diagnosed with CKD.

DaVita and DaVita Clinical Research are registered trademarks of DaVita Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About DaVita Inc.

DaVita Inc., a FORTUNE 500® company, is a leading provider of kidney care in the United States, providing dialysis services and education for patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. DaVita manages more than 1,400 outpatient facilities and acute units in more than 700 hospitals located in 43 states and the District of Columbia, serving approximately 110,000 patients. As part of DaVita's commitment to building a healthy, caring community, DaVita develops, participates in and donates to numerous programs dedicated to transforming communities and creating positive, sustainable change for children, families and our environment. For more information about DaVita, its kidney education materials, and its community programs, please visit http://www.davita.com/.

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SOURCE: DaVita Inc.