Several months back I posted something on hepcidin–the 25 amino acid peptide secreted by the liver which appears to be the “master regulator” of iron metabolism, and whose levels appear to be perhaps increased in ESRD patients, providing…
Is it a good idea to screen the pediatric population at-large for hematuria and proteinuria? This is a controversial topic, as generally speaking isolated hematuria or isolated proteinuria are almost always benign findings in pediatric populations, and…
Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGP) is a rare but severe complication of chronic UTIs. I think of it (in simplistic terms) as a pyelonephritis so severe that it results in loss of renal function of the affected kidney as well…
Calciphylaxis is a rare but severe dermatologic condition affecting end-stage renal disease individuals for reasons which remain obscure. Histologic biopsy is the gold-standard for making the diagnosis; it typically demonstrates calcification within the media of small and medium-sized…
The World Health Organization (WHO) of lupus nephritis has provided a useful and simple framework for understanding this complex disease. In 2003, a committe of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) & Renal Pathologic Society (RPS) instituted some…
Continuing on with a brief discussion of the landmark MDRD Study: at the time of the study, several smaller studies suggested that a low protein diet would prolong time to ESRD for patients with CKD. The theory was…
The Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) Study is one of the landmark papers of Nephrology. The 1994 NEJM paper describing the initial results is freely available, and there are many interesting follow-up studies using the same…
Diabetic nephropathy characterizes a huge chunk of any nephrologist’s practice. Some of the issues to tackle with each visit are obvious–e.g., adequate glucose control, minimization of proteinuria, control of blood pressure–and generally much easier to talk about than…
There is a popular belief that drinking lots of water is good for one’s health. One classic recommendation from doctors to patients–nobody knows where it comes from–is to drink 8 glasses of 8 ounces of liquid beverages daily….
The Panel 7: I remember it was one of the first things I learned in clinical medicine. Na, K, Cl, HCO3, BUN, creatinine and glucose. I know not all countries use the same “grid format” of presenting these…
