Balancing drug availability and patient safety

Stephen B Hanauer

doi:10.1038/ncpgasthep0762 | Full Text | PDF (54K)

How important is echocardiography for risk stratification in follow-up of patients with chronic kidney disease?

Carmine Zoccali

Focusing largely on end-stage renal disease, this Viewpoint outlines some echocardiographic indices of left ventricular function, and examines their prognostic value in chronic kidney disease. Recommendations are provided for optimal indexing of estimates of left ventricular mass to body size in this population. The role of echocardiography as an outcome measure in interventional studies and in the longitudinal monitoring of cardiac risk are also briefly considered.

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0441 | Full Text | PDF (84K)

Tolvaptan increases serum sodium concentrations in hyponatremic patients

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0395 | Full Text | PDF (82K)

MRI estimates size of normal kidneys more accurately than standard methods

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0414 | Full Text | PDF (65K)

Is serum NGAL an accurate marker of renal function in pediatric CKD?

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0416 | Full Text | PDF (65K)

Agalsidase beta slows the progression of advanced Fabry's disease

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0429 | Full Text | PDF (65K)

Lowering blood pressure could protect against renal dysfunction in type 1 diabetes

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0432 | Full Text | PDF (81K)

Spironolactone add-on therapy decreases proteinuria in diabetic nephropathy

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0389 | Full Text | PDF (65K)

Rosiglitazone can be used for diabetes control in hemodialysis patients with hepatitis

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0434 | Full Text | PDF (81K)

Peritoneal dialysis solution containing amino acids and glucose improves protein synthesis

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0411 | Full Text | PDF (81K)

Highly variable effects of islet transplantation on renal function in type 1 diabetics

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0417 | Full Text | PDF (81K)

Cooled dialysate ameliorates hemodialysis-induced left ventricular dysfunction

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0370 | Full Text | PDF (80K)

Use of an abdominal band reduces postdialytic orthostatic hypotension in some patients

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0387 | Full Text | PDF (65K)

Survival after cardiac arrest in HD clinic unimproved by access to external defibrillator

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0412 | Full Text | PDF (65K)

Study supports the use of kidneys and livers donated after cardiac death

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0433 | Full Text | PDF (63K)

Modified MDRD equations outperform the original equations in Chinese patients with chronic kidney disease

Tazeen H Jafar

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0428 | Full Text | PDF (89K)

Cystatin C as a marker of glomerular filtration rate in chronic kidney disease: influence of body composition

Michael G Shlipak

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0404 | Full Text | PDF (88K)

Is low-dose ciclosporin an effective treatment for membranous nephropathy with nephrotic syndrome?

Peter W Mathieson

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0436 | Full Text | PDF (88K)

High rates of coronary artery stenosis detected by angiography in diabetic renal transplant candidates

John D Scandling

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0420 | Full Text | PDF (86K)

Immune function, as assessed by the ImmuKnow^® assay, correlates with clinical outcomes in transplant recipients

Alvaro Pacheco-Silva

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0419 | Full Text | PDF (90K)

Is halving ciclosporin dose and introducing mycophenolate beneficial in chronic renal allograft dysfunction?

Daniel Serón

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0427 | Full Text | PDF (87K)

Therapy Insight: sexual dysfunction in patients with chronic kidney disease

Fredric O Finkelstein, Shirin Shirani, Diane Wuerth and Susan H Finkelstein

Decreased libido, difficulty becoming aroused and achieving orgasm, erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction, and lack of vaginal lubrication are common problems that have a substantial impact on the quality of life of people with chronic kidney disease. This guide to the assessment and management of sexual dysfunction in renal patients emphasizes the multifactorial nature of such problems, and the need for medical teams to initiate discussion of sexual issues as part of routine care.

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0438 | Full Text | PDF (203K)

Mechanisms of Disease: the tissue kallikrein–kinin system in hypertension and vascular remodeling

Paolo Madeddu, Costanza Emanueli and Samir El-Dahr

Kinins are endogenous vasodilators, through which at least some of the beneficial cardiovascular effect of ACE inhibitors is exerted. In the past 15 years, development of new research tools has contributed to the generation of many genetic, biochemical and clinical data. Here, these new findings are brought together to illustrate the potential for manipulation of the kallikrein–kinin system to ameliorate hypertension and its complications, including cardiac hypertrophy and renal failure.

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0444 | Full Text | PDF (557K)

Osteomalacia in a hemodialysis patient receiving an active vitamin D sterol

Joel D Hernandez, Katherine Wesseling, M Ines Boechat, Barbara Gales and Isidro B Salusky

doi:10.1038/ncpneph0443 | Full Text | PDF (233K)