Early dialysis in Britain: Leeds and beyond.

In parallel with the experience in most countries, early clinical experiments with dialysis in Britain did not lead to general adoption of the treatment. After a decade, dialysis for acute kidney failure was re-established at Leeds General Infirmary under the direction of Dr Frank Parsons, who had been inspired by Dr John Merrill in Boston. The intervening period was not characterized by indifference to kidney failure, but was devoted to defining acute kidney failure and successfully applying "conservative" measures, such as dietary regimens based on the scientific understanding and teaching of the time.

Abnormalities of body composition in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Objectives: Body composition changes occur in peritoneal dialysis (PD) due to abnormalities in nutrition and hydration. We investigated abnormalities of nutrition and hydration in PD patients compared with healthy controls by measurement of total body potassium (TBK) and body water compartments.

Design: Cross-sectional comparison study.

Genetics of fibrin clot structure: a twin study.

Coronary artery thrombosis following plaque rupture is an important feature of myocardial infarction, and studies have highlighted the role of coagulation in this condition. Although genetic and environmental influences on the variance in coagulation protein concentrations have been reported, there are no data on the heritability of structure/function of the final phenotype of the coagulation cascade, the fibrin clot. To assess genetic and environmental contributions to fibrin structure, permeation and turbidity studies were performed in 137 twin pairs (66 monozygotic, 71 dizygotic).

De novo SLE after cadaveric renal transplantation.

De novo lupus nephritis in a renal transplant recipient has not been previously reported. We present a transplant recipient with long-standing insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus who presented 9 years posttransplant with hematoproteinuria and acute renal failure. New findings of positive antinuclear antibody and double-stranded deoxyribonucleic antibody and renal histology findings consistent with lupus nephritis suggest a diagnosis of de novo systemic lupus erythematosis.

Comparison of anthropometric equations for estimation of total body water in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Background: Several formulae exist for estimating total body water (TBW). We aimed to assess their validity in peritoneal dialysis patients by comparison with TBW estimated by deuterium oxide dilution (TBW(D)).

Methods: We compared the equations of Chertow (TBW(Cher)), Chumlea (TBW(Chum)), Hume and Weyers (TBW(HW)), Johansson (TBW(J)), Lee (TBW(L)), Watson (TBW(W)) and TBW as 58% of body weight (TBW(0.