[Acute severe respiratory distress in chronic haemodialytic patients affected by SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia: prevalence and associated factors. A single-centre experience from Cardarelli Hospital in Naples (Italy)].

SARS‑CoV‑2-induced severe acute respiratory syndrome is associated with high mortality in the general population; however, the data on chronic haemodialysis (HD) patients are currently scarce. We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate the onset of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in patients with SARS‑CoV‑2-induced interstitial pneumonia diagnosed by PCR test and detected by high resolution computed tomography (HRCT). For each patient, we calculated a CT score between 0 and 24, based on the severity of pneumonia.

Conversion of darbepoetin to low doses of CERA maintains hemoglobin levels in non-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients.

Background/aims: Finding the lowest effective dose of erythropoietin-stimulating agents is critical in the management of renal anemia. We evaluated the efficacy of converting darbepoetin to CERA at doses lower than those usually recommended.

Methods: We selected consecutive non-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients treated with darbepoetin doses ≤40 μg/week in absence of iron deficiency, recent blood transfusion, bleeding, neoplasia, myocardial infarction/stroke in the last 3 months.

Epoetin therapy and hemoglobin level variability in nondialysis patients with chronic kidney disease.

Background And Objectives: Intrapatient variability of hemoglobin (Hb) is a newly proposed determinant of adverse outcome in chronic kidney disease (CKD). We evaluated whether intensity of epoetin therapy affects Hb variability and renal survival in nondialysis CKD.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We calculated the individual therapeutic index (TI) for epoetin (EPO; difference between rates of visits that required EPO dosage change and those with effective EPO change) from 1198 visits during the first year of EPO in 137 patients.

Management of hypertension in chronic kidney disease.

Optimal blood pressure control (<130/80 mm Hg) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), despite being the main objective of conservative therapy, is rarely achieved in clinical practice. A major area of improvement is the correction of the extracellular volume expansion. This goal can be reached by means of dietary salt restriction (100 mEq/d of NaCl).