T-Minus 2 days to the Nephrology Boards exams! For any of you out there studying, one useful resource is ASN’s “NephSAP Core Knowledge Questions“, which can be easily reached via the ASN web page. Unlike the main NephSAP…
The aminoglycosides are amongst the most well-known nephrotoxic drugs. Yet due to their efficacy against many organisms, they are amongst the most common antibiotics used. The next time your nephrology service goes toe-to-toe with the infectious disease service…
Get your flu shots, everyone! Renal Fellow Network recently had to take an H1N1-sponsored weekend off, and I strongly suggest getting the vaccine if available to you; this bug is no fun at all. I’ve written about the…
Okay, you’re probably not going to see this in your lifetime, but imagine how cool you’ll seem when you whip out “matchstick ingestion” as part of the differential diagnosis for hyperkalemia and AKI. Matchstick heads are comprised of…
“Osmotic nephrosis” is a term which describes a common form of renal tubular injury in response to hyperosmolar substances. It is especially relevant to iv contrast nephropathy, and was first observed in animals and human patients infused with…
One of the major medical advances over the past few decades has been the success of stem cell transplants, which serves as a potential cure for many patients with previously untreatable leukemias and lymphomas. With the expanded use…
Two recent articles in JASN–one by Siew et al and the other by Paragas et al–provide further support to the idea of using urinary NGAL as a biomarker for acute kidney injury. An accompanying editorial by Lynda Szczech,…
Most of the time when we are consulted for an inpatient with a rising creatinine, the assumption is that the kidney is to blame. However, there is an important list of non-renal conditions which can increase either BUN…
One of the hot topics in Nephrology over the past few years has been the epidemiologic and histopathologic studies suggesting oral sodium phosphate colonoscopy preparations as a cause of acute phosphate nephropathy. As evidence continued to mount, the…
Basic Clinical Immunology: there are four types of hypersensitivity reactions. Below is a listing of all four types and, since this is a Nephrology Blog, renal examples for each one. Type I Immune Reaction (anaphylactic): Type I hypersensitivity…
