[Nephrotic proteinuria with type 2 diabetes mellitus and autoimmune thyroiditis].

This study reports on a 67-year-old man, suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus for 11 years along with arterial hypertension and autoimmune thyroiditis, in whom nephrotic proteinuria was detected together with a mild reduction in GFR. No autoantibodies or monoclonal proteins were detected in blood and urine. Renal biopsy material examined by light microscopy, immunofluorescence and electron microscopy showed AL amyloidosis.

[Controversial issues in the Giornale Italiano di Nefrologia: how to treat patients with focal segmental glomerular sclerosis].

Primary focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS) commonly presents with nephrotic syndrome. Spontaneous remission is rare and persistent nephrotic syndrome is a marker of poor prognosis. For this reason, obtaining remission using drugs with minimal side effects is desirable.

[Thin glomerular basement membrane disease].

Thin glomerular basement membrane disease (TBMD) is a hereditary nephropathy characterized by thinning of the glomerular basement membrane evinced by electron microscopy and, clinically, by isolated hematuria without extrarenal manifestations. Familial aggregation is found in 50-60% of cases, with autosomal dominant transmission. TBMD is considered to belong to the type IV collagen spectrum of diseases, since heterozygous mutations of the COL4A3 or COL4A4 gene have been detected in more than 30% of patients.

Low-dosage ibopamine treatment in progressive renal failure: a long-term multicentre trial.

A multicentre trial (11 nephrology centres) was carried out to test the effects of ibopamine, an orally active dopamine-like drug, on the progression of chronic renal failure. For a 2-year period 189 chronic renal failure patients (serum creatinine level 1.5-4.

[Doppler echography and color Doppler echography in the assessment of the vascular functional aspects of medical nephropathies].

This study was aimed at finding a Doppler parameter to distinguish, among medical nephropathies, the ones with glomerular from those with vascular or tubulointerstitial involvement. Therefore, 32 patients (20 men and 10 women, average age: 43 years, range: 10-77 years) with clinical and laboratory signs of medical renal disease were examined with color-Doppler US. The resistive index (RI, n.

Behavior of beta 2-microglobulin (B2-m) serum levels in uremic patients.

This study was performed in 97 hemodialysis patients (85 on HD and 12 on CAPD) to investigate the possible correlation between B2-m and hemodialysis-related amyloidosis syndromes (HRA-S); differences in B2-m and HRA behavior between patients hemodialysed with cellulose and synthetic membranes were also included in the present study. Data indicate that B2-m levels are not correlated with dialysis length or with the type of membrane used for the dialysis. On the contrary, in 16 patients with the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, a significant correlation was found between the CTS, the dialysis length and the type of membrane (greater incidence with cellulosic membranes).

Epidemiology of viral hepatitis in dialysis centers: a national survey.

Because of the great problem of viral hepatitis in hemodialysis patients, the Italian Society of Nephrology decided to perform a national epidemiologic survey. We contacted 467 nephrological centers by a questionnaire which let us have information on 25,746 uremic patients: 18,338 on HD, 2,250 on PD and 5,176 with kidney transplant, respectively 78.5% of the total Italian dialysed patients and 91.

Risk factors and clinical expression of HCV infection in hemodialysis patients.

In our Dialytic Unit, the prevalence of antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) was 16.4% in 1990 (73 hemodialyzed) and 21% in 1991 (105 hemodialyzed). The incidence of seroconversion was 13.

[Cerebral cysticercosis: report of a case and review of the literature].

A case of cysticercosis with scattered calcifications has been reported; this, owing to the rarity of cases brought to our notice with certainty, is considered a medical curiosity. The case is subjected to analysis by us and we review the literature pertaining to such cases.

[Diabetes mellitus and acute myocardial infarct].

A brief overview of the relevant literature is followed by the presentation of data obtained in a series of 389 males and 127 females admitted for acute myocardial infarct between 1-1-1974 and 31-12-1978. Diabetes mellitus was more common in these patients (13.9% in males and 12.