We had an interesting discussion yesterday about a young patient with ESRD secondary to diabetic nephropathy who was recently initiated on hemodialysis and reported headaches, chest heaviness and shortness of breath during dialysis sessions associated with a rise…
The past two weeks have been exciting for the field of regenerative medicine in nephrology. Two papers demonstrated the feasibility of developing kidney cells from human pluripotent stem cells. One from the USA by Dr Joseph Bonventre’s group…
For severe or refractory rejections, thymoglobulin/ATG is commonly employed in combination with steroids and B-cell targeted therapies when indicated. However, alemtuzumab could be more effective then thymoglobulin since it depletes not only T cells but also memory B…
KDPI (kidney donor profile index) is a numerical measure that combines ten variables about a donor, including clinical parameters and demographics, to express the quality of the donor kidneys relative to other donors. It has been reported by…
A 31 year-old healthy male donated his kidney to his mother who had IgA nephropathy. Prior to donation, his creatinine was 1.08 mg/dl. One year after donation, his creatinine is 1.59 mg/dL. He was seeing in clinic and…
Delayed graft function (DGF) after kidney transplant is associated with long-term allograft dysfunction. Niemann et al. (NEJM 2015;373:405) reported that therapeutic hypothermia reduced DGF (defined here as the requirement of dialysis in the recipient within 7 days after…
Monoclonal gammopathies generally arise from the development of an abnormal clone of B-cell lineage. The monoclonal protein can be intact immunoglogulin (often associated with free light chain), free light chain (FLC) in isolation, or more rarely immunoglobulin heavy…
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients develop significant changes in bone mineral density (BMD) and bone structure, which together with an increased risk for falls, put them at high risk for fracture. This can be due, in part, to…
Prevention of perioperative AKI, mostly from ATN by ischemic insult, has been a major challenge in nephrology. Recent study (Zarbock et al. JAMA) showed a simple, non-invasive method—remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC), could be a promising strategy. This multicenter,…
Textbooks and formal lectures were previously considered the main sources to build a solid medical knowledge. However, the advancements of technology have transformed our learning process. Nowadays, students, residents and fellows learn from a combination of resources including…
