[Scabies in a dalysis unit. Mystery and prejudice].

Background: Pruritus is one of the most common symptoms of uremia. The etiology of uremic pruritus is steel incompletely known. Scabies may be a cause of itching in these patients.

[Uremic pruritus].

Among the various dermatologic abnormalities that can be associated with advanced chronic renal failure and dialysis therapy, pruritus is certainly the most disturbing disorder. Pruritus is an unpleasant, vexing sensation that provokes an intense desire to scratch. In the past the pruritus was considered from the neurophysiologic point of view as a submodality of pain, but more recent research showed that pain and pruritus are sensations which are carried through different populations of primary sensory neurons.

[Effectiveness of influenza vaccination in patients undergoing regular dialysis treatments].

Background: The influenza vaccination is considered useful in preventing influenza and its complications, but its efficacy is variable. Recent data on clinical effectiveness of influenza vaccination in renal patients are lacking.

Materials And Methods: The clinical efficacy in our Hemodialysis Unit during the last three years has been evaluated: 287 patients have been vaccinated.

Optimizing sodium balance in hemodialysis.

this paper develops and tests a mathematical model for Na+ kinetics applied to standard hemodialysis. The volume of distribution of exchangeable Na+, dialyzer surface area, blood and dialysis fluid flow rate, target weight loss, treatment duration and the Na+ diffusibility constant are taken into account. The model is used to compute the optimal hour by hour dialysis fluid Na+ concentration required to achieve the prescribed end-dialysis natremia and maintain a constant end-dialysis body Na+ pool, while providing a nearly uniform removal of Na+ over dialysis.