OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare the estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using the Cockcroft-Gault and the 4-, 5-, and 6-variable Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formulas for digoxin dose adjustment. METHODS Steady-state serum digoxin concentrations were determined in 100 patients with heart failure and normal to severely impaired renal function. Total cleara...

Visit-to-visit blood pressure (BP) variability has recently been recognized as an important risk factor for decline of residual kidney function (RKF) in patients with chronic kidney disease. However little is known about the impact of visit-to-visit BP variability on RKF in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. We retrospectively studied the association between RKF and visit-to-visit BP variabilit...

The National Strategic Framework for Renal Services introduced the routine reporting of estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) on serum urea and electrolyte tests. Estimated glomerular filtration rates might reduce renal failure induced by lithium and cardiovascular mortality but there are many false positives. We propose how eGFR might be used in lithium monitoring.

The essential function of the kidney is to ensure formation of a relatively protein-free ultra-filtrate, urine. The rate of filtration and composition of the primary renal filtrate is determined by the transport of fluid and solutes across the glomerular filtration barrier consisting of endothelial cells, the glomerular basement membrane, and podocyte foot processes. In diabetes mellitus (DM), ...

BACKGROUND In the United States, HIV-related kidney disease disproportionately affects individuals of African descent; however, there are few estimates of kidney disease prevalence in Africa. We evaluated the prevalence of kidney disease among HIV-infected and uninfected Rwandan women. METHODS The Rwandan Women's Interassociation Study and Assessment prospectively enrolled 936 women. Associat...

BACKGROUND During the past decade, a trend has been observed in the United States toward initiation of chronic dialysis at higher levels of estimated glomerular filtration rate. This likely reflects secular trends in the composition of the dialysis population and a tendency toward initiation of dialysis earlier in the course of kidney disease. METHODS The goal of this study was to generate mo...

With the recent attention to diagnose earlier stages of chronic kidney diseases (CKD), most attention focuses on screening for an impaired estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), i.e. CKD stages 3-5. Less attention is given to the impact of the urinary leakage of albumin. Its presence is not taken into account in the definition of stages 3-5, but only required to diagnose stages 1 and 2. A...

Together with glomerular endothelial cells (GEN) and glomerular basement membrane (GBM), podocytes form the glomerular filtration barrier in the kidney (Figure 3.2.). Podocyte damage or loss is an early symptom of many kidney diseases presenting clinically with proteinuria with or without nephrotic syndrome and renal failure owing to glomerulosclerosis. Injury to other components of the glomeru...

The glomerulus, the filtering unit of the kidney, is a unique bundle of capillaries lined by delicate fenestrated endothelia, a complex mesh of proteins that serve as the glomerular basement membrane and specialized visceral epithelial cells that form the slit diaphragms between interdigitating foot processes. Taken together, this arrangement allows continuous filtration of the plasma volume. T...