Interventional nephrology in peritoneal dialysis: Best practice report of the Peritoneal Dialysis Project Group of the Italian Society of Nephrology.

The procedure of peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheter placement is of utmost importance for a good outcome of peritoneal dialysis. Currently, catheters are mainly placed by surgeons and interventional nephrologists. Still, there is a lack of trained personnel in many dialysis units, which can impair the efficiency of PD units and reduce the patients' possibility to enter a PD programme.

Videolaparoscopic catheter placement reduces contraindications to peritoneal dialysis.

Background: Videolaparoscopy is considered the reference method for peritoneal catheter placement in patients with previous abdominal surgery. The placement procedure is usually performed with at least two access sites: one for the catheter and the second for the laparoscope. Here, we describe a new one-port laparoscopic procedure that uses only one abdominal access site in patients not eligible for laparotomic catheter placement.

Sonographic subclinical entheseal involvement in dialysis patients.

Long-term dialysis treatment can be associated with several musculoskeletal complications. Entheseal involvement in dialysis patients remains rarely studied as its prevalence is underestimated due to its often asymptomatic presentation. The aims of the study were to determine the prevalence of subclinical enthesopathy in haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients at the lower limb level, to investigate the inter-observer reliability of ultrasound assessment and to analyse the influence of biometric and biochemical parameters.

Giant mesenteric cyst of mesothelial origin in a haemodialysis patient with previous peritoneal dialysis therapy.

A 55-year-old female haemodialysis patient presented progressive abdominal liquid formation after having been excluded from peritoneal dialysis therapy because of recurrent peritonitis. Ultrasound was suspicious for ascites secondary to sclerosing peritonitis. Computed tomography revealed a thin-walled mesenteric cyst extending from the epigastric to the pelvic region.

Relationship between autoimmune phenomena and disease stage and therapy in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

The aim of this multicenter GIMEMA study was to correlate autoimmune complications (AIC) in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) with stage and therapy. Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (129/194 cases) and autoimmune thrombocytopenia (35/194 cases) were typically present in advanced and multi-treated disease. Age over the median, stage C and first and second line therapy were identified as independent risk factors by multivariate analysis.