Renal involvement in systemic amyloidosis: an Italian collaborative study on survival and renal outcome.

Background: Few data are available from large population-based studies on survival and renal outcome of patients with renal involvement and different types of systemic amyloidosis.

Methods: Two hundred and ninety of over 373 patients affected from systemic amyloidosis with renal involvement diagnosed in Italy between January 1995 and December 2000 were followed from diagnosis to death or until the last available clinical control. Eighty-three patients were excluded from analysis either because the amyloid type remained undetermined or they were lost at follow-up.

GIT (Glucose Infusion Test): polycentric evaluation of a new test for vascular access recirculation.

Introduction. Vascular access recirculation (AR), which is often unacknowledged, remains an important cause of inadequate dialytic dose. The glucose infusion test (GIT) is a new method for detecting and quantifying AR.