Dear Readers, It’s been an honor and a pleasure to have been a contributor and deputy editor here at RFN over the past few years. I’m writing this on the final day of my fellowship as I get…
One of the difficulties in doing molecular research on the kidney is the diversity highly specialized cells that exist in the glomerulus. As a result, it is important to be able to isolate glomerular tissue from the surrounding…
Over the past few years, it has become apparent that hyperaldosteronism is far commoner than was once suspected and screening of unselected patients with hypertension reveals that about 5-10% of patients have primary hyperaldosteronism. In patients with resistant…
It seems incredible now that it was only in 1998 that it was conclusively proven that the podocyte plays a vital role in the prevention of albuminuria. At that time mutations in NPHS1, encoding nephrin, were found in…
My attention was caught by the recent article in CJASN which compared the mortality of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD) patients in the first 2 years of dialysis therapy. When comparing survival outcomes of PD and HD…
An interesting case was reported in Nephrology this month that highlights the importance of questioning whether or not a lab result is true. This is a very important skill for all internists but particularly nephrologists who are dependent…
Not really a nephrology post but in view of all that happened at the time of the Marathon bombing, I felt that I should highlight an article posted in JAMA this week. Although 3 people unfortunately died as…
This month’s issue of NDT has an interesting debate concerning whether or not clinical laboratories should start reporting CKD-EPI GFR instead of MDRD. The pro side is here while the con side is here. Basically, the argument for…
For the final part of the series on Vitamin D and cardiovascular disease, we’ll focus on the relevant clinical trials. Again, for full attribution, the primary source for this is the excellent review at Nature Reviews Nephrology. Parts…