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Article History

Received: 9 February 2020

Accepted: 25 November 2020

First Online: 7 December 2020

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: This study was conducted under a protocol reviewed by a central ethics review board (New England Independent Review Board, Needham Heights, MA; protocol IRB # WO1–6614), who confirmed the study was secondary research of existing patient data that was deidentified for this research analysis and did not require informed consent per title 45 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations part 46.104-d4ii. This study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

: Not applicable.

: MG, JEGL, JWL are students at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná. YJ, LAU, FWM, JWL are employees of Fresenius Medical Care. JGR, PK are employees of Renal Research Institute, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care. LAU, PK, FWM have share options/ownership in Fresenius Medical Care. PK receives honorarium from Up-To-Date and is on the Editorial Board of Blood Purification and Kidney and Blood Pressure Research. TPM, RPF are employed by Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, and are recipients of scholarships from the Brazilian Council for Research (CNPq). RT is employed by Partners HealthCare, is a consultant for Fresenius Medical Care North America, Biogen Idec, Pfizer, Shire Human Genetics, and Celgene, has ownership interests in Aggamin LLC, receives research funding from the National Institutes of Health, Kaneka Corp, Diasorin, and ThermoFisher, receives honoraria from Roche Diagnostics and ZS Pharma, has patents and invention interests that include ThermoFisher and Up-To-Date, and is a scientific advisor for Aggamin LLC. FWM has directorships in Fresenius Medical Care Management Board, Goldfinch Bio, and Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma. RPF is employed by Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, and receives research grants, consulting fees, and honoraria from Baxter Healthcare and Fresenius Medical Care.