Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney diseases (ADPKD) is generally regarded as a prototypical hereditary tubulo-interstitial kidney disease…
Control of pre-dialysis (and inter-dialysis) serum phosphorous levels (P) is regarded as a desirable, but challenging, goal in dialytic care of ESKD patients. The level of P in the serum…
The landmark SPRINT trial [1] of intensive vs standard anti-hypertensive therapy in older, non-diabetic subjects at a high-risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) demonstrated an overall clear-cut…
Both blood pressure control (with antihypertensive agents) and lowering low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels (with statins) are widely regarded as…
A decrease in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and an increase in albuminuria are both recognized potential risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality (ACM) in both diabetic and…
In 2018 Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) updated its clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis, evaluation, prevention, and treatment of chronic kidney disease–mineral and bone disorders (CKD–MBD). Recommendations and…
January 31, 2019
The Impact of Albuminuria Regression of Morality and Cardiovascular Events in Type 2 Diabetes with Nephropathy
Overt albuminuria (Urine Albumin-to-Creatinine Ratio (UACR) > 300 mg/gm) is a well established biomarker for progression of CKD, all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus…
The “opioid epidemic” in the USA is widely reported in many media sources, but data concerning trends in opioid use among patients with specific diseases, other than cancer, is rather…
Patients with ESRD undergoing renal replacement therapy (averaging about 4 hours each) frequently complain of fatigue, sluggishness, weakness and other constitutional symptoms…
November 30, 2018
A Re-Evaluation of the Efficacy of Midodrine in Management of Intra-Dialytic Hypotension
Hypotension occurring during hemodialysis treatment sessions is a common and vexing problem. It can often be traced to excessive or to rapid…
The pathological “pattern-of-injury” designated as membranous nephropathy (MN) is pathogenetically heterogeneous. Among those subjects with this lesion of MN who have apparently primary rather than secondary MN, about 65 –…
November 23, 2018
Treatment Session Time: How Does it Influence Mortality Risk in Elderly Hemodialysis Patients?
The elderly continue to be a growing segment of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who are treated by dialysis. As expected, they have a mortality rate largely because of…
Acute kidney injury (AKI), defined by rapid and often transient changes in serum creatinine concentration (with or without oliguria), is a common problem, especially…
October 22, 2018
Predicting “Rapid Progression” of Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD)
Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is a progressive form of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), although there is extensive variability in the progression rate even among…
October 16, 2018
The Time Spent in Various “Stages” of CKD (“Dwell Time”) – An Epidemiological Analysis
The rate of progression of CKD from one KDIGO defined category (”stage”) to subsequent “stages” (called “dwell time”(DT)) is commonly…
Calciphylaxis is a serious, potentially life-threatening complication of ESRD that may be precipitated (or aggravated) by vitamin K antagonists (such as warfarin) used for necessary anticoagulation. Alternative non-warfarin anti-coagulation strategies…
The relationships between sodium chlorid (NaCl) intake and clinical outcomes in hemodialysis patients (such as mortality rates) are…
An adaptation of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology has made it possible to non-invasively asses…
Albuminuria, even in the high normal range (> 10 and < 30 mg/d), is associated with the presence or development of…
Surprisingly, the normal limits of venous serum total CO2 (tCO2; a surrogate for serum HCO3- concentration) in adults are not well established…
The current estimating equations for glomerular filtration rate (GFR) exhibit consistent inaccuracies (bias and precision) and as a result…
The dialysis treatment session length (DSL) in conventional thrice weekly hemodialysis therapy has been long suspected to contribute importantly to…
The presence of CKD in adults (mostly older) is a common global problem, although the precise incidence and prevalence of CKD, the changes in frequency over-time and its variation between…
It is generally accepted that systemic inflammatory processes can enhance or induce proteinuria, especially in subjects with pre-existing glomerular disorders. However, much less is known…
The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Clinical Practice Guidelines recommend confirmatory testing for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using cystatin C or…
The intestinal microbiome has become a facet of human biology that is attracting great interest, including among investigators in the field of kidney disease. In CKD, “uremic” toxins may be…
The optimal management of ischemic coronary artery disease in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) awaiting renal transplantation remains as a conundrum. Avoidance of a cardiovascular (CV) death following renal…
April 27, 2018
A Biomarker for Calcineurin Inhibitor Responsiveness in Primary Membranous Nephropathy
The ability to reliably and accurately predict the response to treatment of glomerular disease with specific regimens would be a great advance…
April 23, 2018
Substitution of Central Venous Blood Gas for Arterial Blood Gas for the Diagnosis of Acid-Base Disturbances?
Disturbances of acid-base homeostasis very commonly complicate critical illnesses. Arterial blood gases (ABG) combined with assessment of serum electrolytes (especially the anion gap and delta bicarbonate) are traditionally used…
Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is common in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) treated by dialysis. The failure of LVH to regress or its progression can…