See if you can answer this True or False question: The increased risk of ESRD in African-Americans is due to the increased risk of hypertension and diabetes seen in this population. I think the prevailing view in…
Most would agree that the renal ultrasound is an invaluable tool in the workup of acute kidney injury. Although the renal ultrasound can give information regarding kidney echogenicity and presence of renal cysts, by and large its predominant…
Following on the heels of studies showing a potentially beneficial effect for vasopressin receptor antagonists and rapamycin in the treatment of renal cystic disorders, an article in this month’s JASN by Gattone et al suggests another class of…
While the GI & renal systems are not typically linked together, there are a few aspects to managing a GI Bleed in patients with CKD/ESRD which are somewhat unique. For instance, angiodysplasias in the stomach, duodenum and…
This post is somewhat basic but it’s always good to review, right?The FENa is one of the most commonly used tools by both nephrologists and non-nephrologists to assess the etiology of oliguric renal failure in a patient. Classically,…
Wilms Tumor–named after the German surgeon/pathologist Max Wilms (pictured at left)–is an embryonal tumor that derives from developing kidney tissue. Wilms was the first to postulate that tumors may arise from precursor cells which arise during development, and…
The presence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) portends a much higher mortality in patients who suffer an acute myocardial infarction. There are several potential reasons as to why this might be the case–for instance, the treatment of resultant…
So it was my Dad’s 65th birthday this past weekend, and the kids & grandkids all flew in to Indianapolis to help him celebrate. As my father is also a nephrologist, I wanted there to be a kidney…
Currently, the most widely-utilized method for routine estimation of GFR (eGFR) is the 4-variable MDRD Equation, in which serum creatinine, age, gender and race are the variables entered into a mathematical formula. eGFR as determined by the MDRD…
Often, my ideas for blog postings come from reputable journals such as JASN, CJASN, AJKD, Kidney International, NEJM, etc… But today’s topic derives from my regular reading a website I simply can’t recommend highly enough…Geekologie. From the July…