Developing accurate animal models of human diseases is a well-established research goal but a recent paper reporting a new animal model of nephrolithiasis caught my attention. Kidney stones are an important cause of morbidity and dealing with them…
A 60 year-old woman with a longstanding history of hypertension, scleroderma and MGUS presented to the emergency room with diarrhea, vomiting and AKI (creatinine increased from baseline of 1.5mg/dl to 3.1mg/dl). She had a distant history of membranous…
This month’s eJournal club concerns biomarkers of AKI. There has been considerable interest in developing novel biomarkers of AKI and CKD and a lot of effort has been focused on novel biomarkers such as NGAL, KIM-1 and IL-18….
One of the big stories at the ASN this year was the announcement of the results of the TEMPO trial which were simultaneously published in NEJM. It has been known for some time that ADH is implicated in…
In a previous post, we discussed the dangers of subgroup analyses. Specifically, performing increasing numbers of post-hoc subgroup analyses increases the risk of a type 1 error while the inevitable reduction in numbers tested in subgroup analyses decreases…
Following on from yesterday’s post about turtles who may have a taste of urine in their mouths, here’s an interesting historical diversion about doctors who, in the past, intentionally drank urine to diagnose disease. An article in Scientific…
Better known as a delicacy in the Far East, the Chinese softshell turtle has generated some interest in the Nephrology world because of its unusual means of urea elimination. A paper was recently published in the Journal of…
A man in his 30s with no significant medical history presented to the ED following a fainting episode. Routine screening found an abnormal creatinine, hematuria and proteinuria. Serological work-up including complements were negative. In view of a slowly…
This month’s eJournal Club concerns a paper (with an accompanying editorial) reporting the experience of renal biopsies in Norway. One issue that arises again and again is whether or not patients should undergo outpatient biopsies. The argument against…
Sometimes when something appears too good to be true, it is too good to be true. Last year, a paper was published in the NEJM reporting a preliminary study of bardoxolone for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. At…
