Nephrology News

A study involving participants from Australia, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the United States, revealed what is most important to patients with glomerular disease and their caregivers. The highest-rated priorities were related to kidney health and survival, as well to the ability to actively participate in their lives and the impact on family members.

In an article published in Kidney Medicine, nephrologists from Mount Sinai Hospital in East Harlem, New York, outline how they are ensuring that patients who require dialysis receive safe and effective care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published research found that, for people living in Baltimore, housing insecurity was associated with a greater risk for developing albuminuria, which is a marker of kidney disease.

Nephrologists from around the globe — and primarily from China as this is where the virus originated — have developed a set of recommendations for the care of pediatric patients undergoing either in-center or home dialysis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After considering the ways in which transplant recipients have responded to similar viruses in the past, researchers contended that COVID-19 may induce “severe consequences” in recipients, while also placing their health care teams and family members at risk.

The American Nephrology Nurses Association has recently launched an online tool that consists of an interactive map designed to ensure that the areas of greatest need have an adequate number of nephrology nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The artificial intelligence-enabled clinical diagnostic for kidney disease, known as KidneyIntelX, will be used in a study to determine its predictive ability to assess the risk of adverse kidney events in patients diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a press release from RenalytixAI.

Two of the largest manufacturers of products for patients with kidney-related complications, Fresenius Medical Care North America and Baxter International Inc., have responded to the shortage of dialysis machines and supplies that is affecting hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, temporarily reducing the number of dialysis treatments in an outpatient setting could help limit potential exposure to the virus for patients and staff and save personal preventive equipment, suggest Stanford University nephrologist Timothy W. Meyer, MD, and colleagues.

For patients seeking kidney transplantation in the Southeastern United States, center distance from residence did not appear to be associated with either referral to transplant center or initiation of evaluation, according to a recently published study.