Fecal microbiota transplantation for severe clostridium difficile infection after left ventricular assist device implantation: a case control study and concise review on the local and regional therapies.

Background: We report herein a case of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) used for severe Clostridium difficile infection for a 65-year-old Lebanese man who underwent left ventricular assist device implantation. To the best of our knowledge this is the first case report from Lebanon and the region presenting such technique.

Case Presentation: The patient experienced diarrhea and rectal bleeding and was diagnosed of pseudomembranous colitis (PMC).

Geographic differences in genetic susceptibility to IgA nephropathy: GWAS replication study and geospatial risk analysis.

IgA nephropathy (IgAN), major cause of kidney failure worldwide, is common in Asians, moderately prevalent in Europeans, and rare in Africans. It is not known if these differences represent variation in genes, environment, or ascertainment. In a recent GWAS, we localized five IgAN susceptibility loci on Chr.

The cardiorenal syndrome in diabetes mellitus.

The cardiorenal syndrome in patients with diabetes mellitus represents a systemic condition that affects both the cardiovascular and renal systems. Diabetes is a well established risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and a significant proportion of diabetic patients go on to develop clinically significant nephropathy. In the diabetic state the kidney is involved by progressive sclerosis/fibrosis and proteinuria, due most likely to overactivity of the transforming growth factor-beta system and, to some extent, the vascular endothelial growth factor system, respectively.

A 5-year survey of biopsy proven kidney diseases in Lebanon: significant variation in prevalence of primary glomerular diseases by age, population structure and consanguinity.

Background: Differences in epidemiology of kidney disease across the Middle East may arise from variations in indication for biopsy, environmental exposure and socio-economic status. The Lebanese population is composed of different ethnicities, with distinct ancestry and religion, enabling comparison of their effect on the prevalence of kidney disease within a confined geographic setting and uniform practices. Here we report 5 years' detailed epidemiology of renal diseases, based on histological diagnosis, in a sample from three large pathology centres in Lebanon.

Characterization of a large Lebanese family segregating IgA nephropathy.

Background: Familial aggregation of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) suggests that genetic factors contribute to the development of this trait. Because clinical manifestations in IgAN families are often limited to episodic haematuria, large kindreds tractable to linkage analysis have been difficult to identify.

Methods: We identified a large Lebanese-Druze kindred ascertained via an index case with biopsy-documented IgAN.