Nomenclature in nephrology: preserving 'renal' and 'nephro' in the glossary of kidney health and disease.

A recently published nomenclature by a "Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes" (KDIGO) Consensus Conference suggested that the word "kidney" should be used in medical writings instead of "renal" or "nephro" when referring to kidney disease and kidney health. Whereas the decade-old move to use "kidney" more frequently should be supported when communicating with the public-at-large, such as the World Kidney Day, or in English speaking countries in communications with patients, care-partners, and non-medical persons, our point of view is that "renal" or "nephro" should not be removed from scientific and technical writings. Instead, the terms can coexist and be used in their relevant contexts.

Lung ultrasound-guided therapeutic thoracentesis in refractory congestive heart failure.

Pleural effusion refractory to diuretic treatment is frequent in advanced heart failure. Therapeutic thoracentesis is a time-honored practice, recently made simpler and safer by guidance with lung ultrasound. To assess the feasibility and clinical impact of lung ultrasound-driven therapeutic thoracentesis in refractory heart failure.

Electronic medical record in cardiology: a 10-year Italian experience.

Objectives: the aim of this study was to report a ten years experience in the electronic medical record (EMR) use. An estimated 80% of healthcare transactions are still paper-based.

Methods: an EMR system was built at the end of 1998 in an Italian tertiary care center to achieve total integration among different human and instrumental sources, eliminating paper-based medical records.

The true cost of cardiovascular imaging: focusing on downstream, indirect, and environmental costs.

To develop a more realistic assessment of costs, herein named "true" costs, the extra-cancer from medical radiation, environmental damage from imaging paraphernalia and radioactive wastes must be included as long-term costs from imaging examinations. It is urgent to define the "true" costs across imaging modalities as it interferes on physicians' decision to request an exam and on research projects such as cost-effectiveness analysis. Cardiology is the specialty that most will benefit from the outcome as cardiovascular exams represent almost 30% of the total exams acquired annually worldwide.

Contrast medium nephrotoxicity after renal artery and coronary angioplasty.

Background: Renal dysfunction induced by iodinated contrast medium (CM) administration can minimize the benefit of the interventional procedure in patients undergoing renal angioplasty (PTRA).

Purpose: To compare the susceptibility to nephrotoxic effect of CM in patients undergoing PTRA with that of patients submitted to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Material And Methods: A total of 33 patients successfully treated with PTRA (PTRA group, mean age 70+/-12 years, 23 female, basal creatinine 1.