The MURCS association which stands for Mullerian, Renal, Cervicothoracic Somite Abnormalities is a rare developmental anomaly seen in females. The clinical course of this disorder is not clearly defined as of yet-which may range from asymptomatic to severe disability. Here we present the case of a young 22-year-old female who was incidentally detected to have a generalized increase in bone dens...

Electrolyte alterations and extra-renal disorders are quite frequent in patients undergoing haemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis. The native kidneys may be the site of important pathologies in patients undergoing dialysis, especially in the form of acquired renal cystic disease with frequent malignant transformation. Renal neoplasms represents an important complication of haemodialysis-associat...

Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; TaqI and ApaI) in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have been identified as risk factors for the progression of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The purpose of our study was to confirm the reported association of these two SNPs with ESRD risk and progression of renal osteodystrophy in a Chinese Han population. A total of 452 ESRD patients and 904 matche...

Renal osteodystrophy is a universal complication of uremia. Renal failure patients are at risk for low bone mineral density (BMD) and fractures. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of uremic bone disease. Histomorphometric studies suggest that the maintenance of PTH levels between two and four times the upper limit of normal is associated with the lowest preval...

Aluminum toxicity in patients with chronic renal failure has been related to renal osteodystrophy and dialysis encephalopathy (DES). The toxicity is associated with renal osteodystrophy in two ways. One association is the iatrogenic effect of excessive use of aluminum hydroxide gels resulting in hypophosphatemia which interferes with bone mineralization. The second association may involve depos...

Chronic uraemia is associated with severe disturbances in the calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D homeostasis, leading to the development of secondary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) with increased biosynthesis and secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and hyperplasia of the parathyroid glands. Renal osteodystrophy (ROD) is a frequent and serious complication in chronic uraemic patients, which in a ma...

To identify patients at risk from renal bone disease we compared the demographic characteristics of 243 patients with end stage renal failure grouped according to the presence (97 (40%] or absence of severe renal bone disease as judged by histological criteria. Youth, female sex, tubulointerstitial types of nephropathy, and a long duration of uraemia were all identified as significant independe...

The determination of intact parathyroid hormone levels is used for diagnosis and in the management of renal osteodystrophy. Pre-analytical and analytical conditions are important in the overall confidence of the assay. Unfortunately, there are no clear recommendations for the use of serum samples or samples anticoagulated with ethylenediaminotetraacetic acid (EDTA) for the best preservation of ...