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Background The known risks and benefits of native kidney biopsies are mainly based on the findings of retrospective studies. The aim of this multicentre prospective study was to evaluate the safety of percutaneous renal biopsies and quantify biopsy-related complication rates in Italy. Methods The study examined the results of native kidney biopsies performed in 54 Italian nephrology centres between 2012 and 2020. The primary outcome was the rate of major complications 1 day after the procedure, or for longer if it was necessary to evaluate the evolution of a complication. Centre and patient risk predictors were analysed using multivariate logistic regression. Results Analysis of 5304 biopsies of patients with a median age of 53.2 years revealed 400 major complication events in 273 patients (5.1%): the most frequent was a ≥2 g/dL decrease in haemoglobin levels (2.2%), followed by macrohaematuria (1.2%), blood transfusion (1.1%), gross haematoma (0.9%), artero-venous fistula (0.7%), invasive intervention (0.5%), pain (0.5%), symptomatic hypotension (0.3%), a rapid increase in serum creatinine levels (0.1%) and death (0.02%). The risk factors for major complications were higher plasma creatinine levels [odds ratio (OR) 1.12 for each mg/dL increase, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.08–1.17], liver disease (OR 2.27, 95% CI 1.21–4.25) and a higher number of needle passes (OR for each pass 1.22, 95% CI 1.07–1.39), whereas higher proteinuria levels (OR for each g/day increase 0.95, 95% CI 0.92–0.99) were protective. Conclusions This is the first multicentre prospective study showing that percutaneous native kidney biopsies are associated with a 5% risk of a major post-biopsy complication. Predictors of increased risk include higher plasma creatinine levels, liver disease and a higher number of needle passes.

Background. Many centers accept a minimum body weight of 10 kg as threshold for kidney transplantation (Tx) in children. As solid evidence for clinical outcomes in multinational studies is lacking, we evaluated practices and outcomes in European children weighing below 10 kg at Tx. Methods. Data were obtained from the European Society of Paediatric Nephrology/European Renal Association and European Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry on all children who started kidney replacement therapy at

Background and Aims An increasing number of patients are returning to dialysis after kidney allograft failure (KAF). These patients are at higher risk of complications and mortality compared with incident ESKD patients.. In the pediatric population these data are missing and outcomes have never been investigated before in a nationally representative sample. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics and hard outcomes of children entering dialysis after KAF in a large population of pediatric dialysis patients. Method We retrospectively reviewed the files of patients receiving chronic dialysis at Results After KAF, 45 (35.7 %) patients were treated with PD and 81 (64,3%) with HD. Prior to kidney transplantation (Ktx), 74 (58.7%) were on PD, 45 (35.7%) on HD, and 7 on conservative care (5.5%). Compared with PD patients, those on HD were older (median age of 14.8 years [IQR 11.4-17.5] vs. 10.8 [IQR 2-6.5] vs.; p=0.002), had a longer transplant vintage ([55.2 months [13.2-100.3]) vs. 33 [5.1-82.2], and reentered dialysis in more recent calendar years (2013 [2007-2017] vs. 2004 [2001-2009]). Significant predictors for being treated with PD after KAF were a younger age at dialysis start (OR 0.83 per year increase [95%CI 0.72-0.94]) and a history of PD use before Ktx (OR 12.74 [2.2-74.6]). Patients returning to dialysis in more recent eras (OR 0.87 per year increase [0.81-0.94]) and those who were treated with more than one dialysis modality before Ktx (OR 0.15 for being treated with PD [0.04-0.63]) were more likely to be initiated on HD. Over the observation period, 6 PD (13.6%) and 3 HD (4.2%) patients died. After adjustment for several covariates, patients on PD exhibited an increased risk for mortality compared with HD (HR 4.65 [1.12-19.30], while the difference for modality failure and access to renal transplantation did not reach statistical significance (Fig.1) Conclusion Patients returning to dialysis after KAF in more recent years are more likely to be initiated on HD rather than PD. According to our registry data, the use of PD is associated with a lower survival among patients initiating dialysis after KAF. Fig.1 Cumulative incidences for the competing events, death, transplant and other techniques (solid line: PD, dash line: HD)

Corticosteroid-related toxicity in children with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome is primarily related to the cumulative dose of prednisone. To optimize treatment of relapses, we conducted the PROPINE study, a multicentric, open-label, randomized, superiority trial. Seventy-eight relapsing children aged 3-17 years who had not received steroid-sparing medications during the previous 12 months were randomized to receive, from day five after remission, either 18 doses of 40 mg/m2 of prednisone on alternate days (short arm), or the same cumulative dose tapered over double the time (long arm). Patients were monitored with an ad-hoc smartphone application, allowing daily reporting. The primary outcome was the six-month relapse rate at which time, 23/40 and 16/38 patients had relapsed in the long and short arms, respectively (no significant difference). Additionally, 40/78 patients were also enrolled in a secondary crossover study and were allocated to the opposite arm. Altogether, at six months, the relapse rate was 32/40 and 28/40 in the long and short arms, respectively (no significant difference). A post-hoc analysis excluding 30 patients treated with low-dose prednisone maintenance therapy failed to show significant differences between the two arms. No differences in adverse events, blood pressure and weight gain were observed. Thus, our data do not support the prescription of prolonged tapering schedules for relapses of steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome in children.

Acute pyelonephritis is a common disorder prevalently affecting young women, that may be severe in the elderly, in diabetics, in pregnant women and in immunosuppressed patients. The aim of this chapter is to try to elucidate some nebulous points, also through our own experience, regarding the relationship with vesico-ureteral reflux in adults, the frequency of complication with abscesses, the need for CT or magnetic resonance imaging, the long-term evolution. Acute pyelonephritis (APN) in the native kidney is a common disorder prevalently affecting young women. It is responsible for more than 100,000 hospitalizations per year in the U.S. APN is usually a benign disease, but it may be severe in the elderly, in diabetics, in pregnant women, and in immunosuppressed patients. Complicated APN may present renal abscesses or transformation into emphysematous pyelonephritis (EP). A pathogenic role is played by sexual activity, genetic predisposition, and urinary instrumentation. The correlation between APN and vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in adults has not been clearly determined. The most common etiologic agent both in adults and in children is Escherichia coli. Diagnosis of APN is mainly clinical, but only CT or magnetic resonance are able to establish the exact definition and extent of the renal parenchymal lesions and to detect abscesses. The frequency of abscesses is largely underestimated in the literature and in clinical practice. The most severe cases of APN should be treated, at least at the onset, with parenteral antibiotics, and the patients should be hospitalized. Antibiotic treatment should include fluoroquinolone or a broad spectrum cephalosporin associated or not with an aminoglycoside for 10–14 days. Abscesses require longer treatment, and drainage may be necessary in large ones. The long-term evolution of APN seems favorable, even though cortical scar formation, development of proteinuria, or renal failure have been reported.

Despite the increased incidence of patients affected by ESRD requiring dialysis, the technique of peritoneal dialysis is still underused.This is due to various reasons: besides the complexity and d...

Evidence regarding hospital-based acute kidney injury (AKI) reveals a continuous increase in incidence over the years, at least in intensive care units (ICU). Fewer reports are available for non critically-ill patients admitted to general or specialist wards other than ICU (non-ICU). The consequence of greater incidence is an increase in therapies such as dialysis; but how the health care organization deals with this problem is not clearly known. Here we quantified the incidence of dialysis-requiring AKI (AKI-D) among patients admitted to a University Hospital which serves a population of 354,000 inhabitants. Between 2007 and 2012, the incidence of AKI-D increased from 209 to 410 per million population (pmp)/year; age of patients and cardiovascular comorbid pathologies also increased. AKI-D was more frequent in non-ICU and 32 % of patients were admitted to ICU. Considering the site of treatment of non-ICU patients, in 2007 the ratio of patients admitted to non-ICU wards apart from Nephrology to those admitted to Nephrology was 1:1, but in 2012 the ratio increased to 2.4:1 (p

Nonostante il crescente aumento dei pazienti con ESRD che necessitano di trattamento dialitico, l'uso della dialisi peritoneale sta subendo nel tempo un trend in discesa. Tra le varie cause alla base di tale fenomeno, oltre che sulla scarsa volontà da parte dei Medici a intraprendere un percorso, quello peritoneale, sicuramente più impegnativo, riteniamo opportuno focalizzare l'attenzione sulla modifica del tessuto sociale che caratterizza il nostro Paese. I nostri pazienti sono sempre più anziani, soli e abbandonati a loro stessi dalle proprie famiglie: per motivi socio-organizzativi, oltre che per l'inadeguata informazione, tendono, quindi, a preferire un tipo di trattamento dialitico, quello extracorporeo, che risulta, per loro stessi e per la loro famiglia, sicuramente più comodo e conveniente. Una giusta soluzione per ridurre la marginalità della dialisi peritoneale potrebbe essere la creazione di “RSA specializzate”, in cui la presenza di un supporto medico-psicologico, associata all'inevitabile creazione di legami interpersonali, potrebbe non solo garantire al paziente anziano e alla sua famiglia prestazioni assistenziali-sanitarie adeguate e continuative, ma anche ridurre quella percezione di solitudine spesso presente in questa situazione. La realizzazione di un tale progetto sociale potrebbe favorire lo spostamento verso l'aumento di prevalenza ed incidenza della dialisi peritoneale.