[Preparation of highly HLA-sensitized patient for heart transplantation: first documented case in Croatia].

The presence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) poses a significant therapeutic challenge in solid organ transplantation. Sensitized patients (panel reactive antibody, PRA > 10%) receiving a heart transplant are at an increased risk of developing several clinical syndromes that influence short-term, and possibly also long-term patient survival. We present a case of immune system modulation in a highly sensitized patient awaiting heart transplantation.

[Pregnancy in patients treated with hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis: review of the literature and management guidelines].

Pregnancy in patients suffering from chronic renal disease is still a rare phenomenon due to a number of factors that impair fertility in such patients, in spite of a number of new treatment techniques that have been introduced recently, e.g. renal replacement therapy with biocompatible dialysis membranes, highflux dialyzers, erythropoietins, and new types of peritoneal dialysis and higher level of care for such patients.

[Therapeutic apheresis: selective methods].

Therapeutic apheresis is a term that describes numerous different procedures that remove pathological substances from the body. They are used in cases when conservative treatment measures fail, and may be useful as an adjuvant method for treatment of different diseases which have a common feature pathogenic protein substance (paraproteins, antibodies..

[The technological progress in haemodialysis: potassium profiling].

Patients with the end-stage renal disease often suffer from numerous concomitant diseases. The most common are complications of the cardiovascular system. During the haemodialysis treatment, rapid changes in volume status, osmolality and electrolyte composition of the blood, cause disturbances which manifest as haemodynamic instability, hypotension and cardiac arrhythmias.

[Effect of erythropoietin therapy on serum lipoprotein levels in patients on hemodialysis].

Disturbed lipoprotein metabolism is a well-documented feature in hemodialysis (HD) patients, and lipoprotein disturbances have been clearly linked to premature cardiovascular disease. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate whether recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) therapy affects lipid metabolism. The study was performed in 40 chronic HD patients treated for three years with rHuEpo subcutaneously at the end of each dialysis session.