Many nephrologists feel increasingly bewildered by heightened discussion about the upcoming bundling system for dialysis patients. The dialysis industry is a unique and giant enterprise serving nearly a half million Americans with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).
Hyperphosphatemia is a known risk factor for death in both the general and CKD populations and a correlate of faster CKD progression (Clin J Am Soc Neph. 2006;1:825-831).
The Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Program is one of the most significant developments in the history of U.S. health care and an unqualified success.
A highly respected senior nephrologist and renowned opinion leader, who also happened to be my good old friend and colleague, asked me why I and some other academicians are involved in supporting such non-peer-reviewed journals as Renal & Urology News (RUN).
Most physicians in this country provide patient care in busy private practice offices or non-teaching hospitals. Practicing physicians often try to adhere to relevant guidelines to optimize patient care and achieve better outcomes.
Two articles in this issue relay new findings on one of the most pressing and controversial issues in nephrology: increasing the number of donor kidneys available for transplantation. The solution examined in each article is the use of more kidneys from expanded criteria donors (ECD).
On September 11, 2007, an FDA panel of health experts declined to recommend the quasi-expected restrictions on the use of the erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESA) in CKD patients.
Nephrologists and dietitians spend a significant amount of their time managing hyperphosphatemia. Phosphorus retention, which occurs in moderate to advanced CKD, is thought to contribute to secondary hyperparathyroidism and excessive vascular calcification.
Nephrologists have been well aware that renal osteodystrophy, also known as kidney bone disease, is a common complication of advanced CKD (stages 3 to 5).
