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…
Phosphorus handling is a hot topic in renal physiology, especially considering the advanced being made in bone metabolism suggesting that vascular calcifications may play some role in the high mortality rate of chronic kidney disease patients. But how…
It has long been known that acute phosphate toxicity–as might be seen in rhabdomyolysis or tumor lysis syndrome–can lead to acute kidney injury as a result of calcium-phosphate deposition in the renal parenchyma and tubules. Interestingly, this problem…
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the recent NEJM article by Gutiérrez (a recently graduated fellow from my program!) et al regarding the potential role of measuring FGF23 levels as an important biomarker in patients with…
For many years, the existence of “phosphatonins”–substances secreted by certain tumors which result in profound renal phosphorus wasting and resultant osteomalacia–has been postulated. Evidence has recently been accumulating that fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is the phosphatonin we…
