The finding of fibrils on electron microscopy of a renal biopsy specimen may be an extremely important clue in establishing the diagnosis. In fact, for many of the conditions listed below, the diagnosis may be based PURELY on…
RPGN is a nephrologic emergency, and one of the more exciting consult cases for nephrologists to participate in. Much like dealing with a stroke or heart attack, delays in initiating therapy can lead to substantially worsened outcomes. Prompt…
Beginning in the 2009, Nephrology became one of the final medical subspecialities (along with Endocrinology) to join the Medical Specialties Matching Program (MSMP), a division of the National Residency Matching Program, a.k.a. “The Match.” Prior to this, individual…
The treatment of hepatitis C-induced cryoglobulinemia can be broken down into two different arms, both of which are usually necessary: 1. Antiviral Therapy, to get at the root-cause of the problem. 2. Immunosuppression Therapy, to prevent the acute…
Sometimes the formulations of vitamin D can get confusing. Here’s a few key points: 1. The terms “vitamin D2” and “vitamin D3” do not refer to the hydroxylation status of vitamin D–either D2 or D3 can exist in…
Systemic amyloidosis can involve nearly any organ, and the kidney is often involved. Recall that there are two flavors of amyloidosis: AL amyloidosis (in which the amyloid is formed by light chains as a result of a paraproteinemia)…
Prior to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus (viral particles shown on the left), there was an entity termed “essential cryoglobulinemia”–that is, cryoglobulinemia without an obvious explanation. While this term is still used, the true “essential cryoglobulinemia”…
Although the traditional dogma of kidney transplant would state that ABO incompatibility is an absolute contraindication for a kidney transplant, this is changing: there are some overall favorable reports of graft longevity in Japan, where cadaveric kidneys are…
Natriuresis is the process by which sodium is excreted in the urine; this process is regulated (in part at least) by the natriuretic peptides ANP and BNP (there is also a CNP, which appears to have direct effects…
One of the extra-renal manifestations of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney is the presence of cerebral aneurysms. Since often these aneurysms are asymptomatic until they rupture, causing severe neurologic problems as well as possibly being fatal, one might think…
