Ergocalciferol treatment does Not improve erythropoietin utilization and hospitalization rate in hemodialysis patients.

Background: Vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D; 25[OH]D) deficiency (VDD) is highly prevalent in chronic kidney disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of oral ergocalciferol supplementation on requirement of erythropoietin (EPO) and active vitamin D analogues, and hospitalization rate in maintenance hemodialysis (HD) patients.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 186 patients who were on HD for 3 months and had 25(OH)D levels < 30 ng/ml.

Cocaine: A Rare Cause of Left-Sided Renal Infarction.

Cocaine abuse is commonly associated with myocardial ischemia, mesenteric ischemia, and cerebrovascular accidents. Renal infarction is an uncommon complication of cocaine abuse. Various mechanisms have been postulated for this cocaine-related injury.

Comparison of Nutrition Profile and Diet Record Between Veteran and Nonveteran End-Stage Renal Disease Patients Receiving Hemodialysis in Veterans Affairs and Community Clinics in Metropolitan South-Central Texas.

Background: U.S. military veterans have high rates of chronic disease and social disadvantage, which are risk factors for protein-energy wasting (PEW).

Inflammatory Response to Sorbent Hemodialysis.

Inflammation is common and associated with morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Exposure to endotoxin contained in the dialysate may trigger inflammation. Dialysate volume is substantially reduced in sorbent HD compared with standard single-pass dialysis.

Renal transplantation and pregnancy.

Introduction: Although pregnancy after kidney transplantation is feasible, complications are relatively common and this needs to be considered in patient counseling and clinical decision making.

Review: Fertility generally returns after renal transplantation. Approximately 74% of pregnancies in kidney transplant recipients end successfully in life births.

Renal replacement therapy in Nepal.

Renal replacement therapy in Nepal fulfills only a small part of the current needs, with 97 hemodialysis machines available for the general population of 29 million. Transportation difficulties to dialysis centers preclude many of the patients from end-stage renal disease care, due to the rural nature of the population. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) organized into rural sub segments, considering the Mexican model of PD and government funding appear to offer some solution to provision of care for this mountainous rural country.

Body composition and outcomes in chronic hemodialysis patients.

In contrast to epidemiological data from the general population, maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients with a naturally small body size experience an increased mortality rate compared to their larger fellow patients. Since body mass index is a poor surrogate of body composition, attempts were made to delineate muscle, fat and visceral organ mass in MHD patients. Several lines of evidence indicate that (a) increased fat and muscle mass exerts protective effects, (b) some markers of inflammation may be increased with fat mass, and (c) a high visceral mass per body weight is associated with a reduced survival time.