[The CROFF pavilion at the Policlinico Hospital in Milan: the beginnings].

This article collects the personal stories of the young doctors who in the early sixties contributed to the birth and development of the Croff pavilion at the Policlinico Hospital in Milan. Inaugurated on October 19, 1964, this has been the first institute in Italy entirely devoted to patients with kidney diseases. Since its inception, it has significantly contributed to the progress of nephrology thanks to important and pioneering investigations in the main fields of our specialty, which still continue nowadays.

The role of blood volume reduction in the genesis of intradialytic hypotension.

Background: The aim of this multicenter prospective study was to investigate the role of relative blood volume (RBV) reduction on intradialytic hypotension.

Methods: One hundred twenty-three patients on chronic hemodialysis therapy were considered a priori normotensive (reference group A), intradialytic hypotension prone (group B), and hypertensive (group C). RBV was continuously monitored, and diastolic and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) were measured at 20-minute intervals during three dialysis sessions.

Hydroelectrolytic equilibrium change in dialysis.

Hydroelectrolytic equilibrium alteration in dialysis patients before dialytic treatment consists in extracellular volume expansion and hyperkalemia. Extracellular volume expansion is due to salt and water retention. Because of the self-regulation phenomenon of cell volume, it is made prevalently at the expense of extracellular volume.

Effect of high-flux dialysis on the anaemia of haemodialysis patients.

Background: Anaemia is one of the major clinical characteristics of patients with chronic renal failure, and has a considerable effect on morbidity and mortality. Adequate dialysis is of paramount importance in correcting anaemia by removing small and medium-sized molecules, which may inhibit erythropoiesis. However, high-molecular-weight inhibitors cleared only by means of highly porous membranes have also been found in uraemic serum and it has been claimed from uncontrolled studies that high-flux dialysis could improve anaemia in haemodialysis patients.