Nefro

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) patients are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related deaths in comparison with the general population. This review summarizes recent guideline recommendations and studies on primary and secondary prevention of traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in those with NDD-CKD. RECENT FINDINGS: The use of antiplatelet agents for primary prevention in CKD is not supported by clinical trial evidence; however, they offer potential benefits when used for secondary prevention of CVD in the absence of an elevated bleeding risk...

Patients are exposed to numerous prescribed and over-the-counter medications. Unfortunately, drugs remain a relatively common cause of acute and chronic kidney injury. A combination of factors including the innate nephrotoxicity of drugs, underlying patient characteristics that increase their risk for kidney injury, and the metabolism and pathway of excretion by the kidneys of the various agents administered enhance risk for drug-induced nephrotoxicity. This paper will review these clinically relevant aspects of drug-induced nephrotoxicity for the clinical nephrologist...

Hyperuricemia and gout, the clinical manifestation of monosodium urate crystal deposition, are common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although the presence of CKD poses additional challenges in gout management, effective urate lowering is possible for most patients with CKD. Initial doses of urate-lowering therapy are lower than in the non-CKD population, whereas incremental dose escalation is guided by regular monitoring of serum urate levels to reach the target level of <6mg/dL (or <5mg/dL for patients with tophi)...

ANCA (anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies) associated vasculitis or AAV are a group of diseases with predominant inflammation of small vessels and the presence of detectable ANCA in serum. Due to these common features, it is considered that AAV share pathogenic mechanisms. Consequently, a similar therapeutic approach has been developed. A new nomenclature has been recently proposed, with AAV including "granulomatosis with polyangiitis" (GPA, formerly Wegener's granulomatosis), "microscopic polyangiitis" (MPA), "eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis" (EGPA, formerly Churg-Strauss disease) and renal limited vasculitis...