[Management of a symptomatic acute severe hyponatremia recovered by its neurological sequelae. A case report]. / Management in un caso di iponatriemia acuta severa recuperata dalle sue sequele neurologiche.

Hyponatremia is a common condition in hospitalized patients, with an incidence rate of about 30%. Acute severe hyponatremia is frequently acquired in hospital, due to surgery or an injudicious use of fluid infusions, or the use of nephrotoxic drugs or those stimulating excessive natruresis. A 59 year old male was hospitalized under emergency conditions in General Surgery for abdominal pain. The patient's anamnesis included: hypertension, diabetes, suspected Crohn's disease all in pharmacological treatment. During the recovery rehydration and antibiotic therapy (imipenem+cilastatin and metronidazole) was made and beclomethasone was suspended. On the seventh day from the recovery, the patient had a symptomatic acute severe hyponatremia with neurological severe symptoms (loss of consciousness, seizures). After the immediate diagnosis of the severe sodium loss, the patient underwent to an aggressive intravenous therapy for the electrolytic disorder during the first 24 hours, followed by a target-guided therapy until the level of serum sodium was in the normal values range. The patient, despite the neurological symptoms due to hyponatremia and the rapid and aggressive electrolytic therapy, had no neurological damage with a complete "restitutio ad integrum" of his neurological activity.

[Cyclers for APD: current potential and possible developments]. / Il cycler per APD: potenzialita' attuali e possibili sviluppi.

The use of automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) is rapidly increasing worldwide. The success of this treatment is closely linked to the development of new mechanical devices (cyclers). At present, the cyclers available in Italy are the Baxter Home Choice Pro, the Fresenius Sleep Safe, and the Gambro Serena. Today's cyclers are characterized by a user-friendly, intuitive interface and sophisticated software. The miniaturization of components has led to a significant reduction of the weight and size of these machines and great flexibility in treatment scheduling. The memory card (patient card) and the possibility of remote control (teledialysis) allow continuous monitoring of the patients and their compliance to treatment. The cyclers of the future could optimize their performance by biosensors able to assess, in real time, the dialysis dose while sensors placed on the drainage line could facilitate the early diagnosis of peritonitis. The peritoneal clearance could be increased with the development of continuous-flow peritoneal dialysis (CFPD). Finally, the introduction of cyclers able to prepare individually tailored solutions different from the standard ones could better meet the clinical needs of the patients and reduce the exposure of the peritoneal membrane to high concentrations of glucose.

[Assessment of APD cyclers]. / Valutare il monitor per APD.

Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) is a home treatment that allows exchanges to be performed during the night by means of a mechanical device (cycler). The most important requirements of a cycler are a user-friendly intuitive interface, safety in usage, noiselessness and full portability. These characteristics influence patient satisfaction and consequently patient compliance with dialysis treatment. Other important features of the device are online pressure and flow sensors to avoid damage to the peritoneum, control of inflow and outflow rates, and flexibility in performing different treatment schedules. Today's cyclers allow all these functions and appear to respond well to the current clinical requirements. Another advantage of cyclers is that they can store treatment data on memory cards and send information about home APD treatment to the dialysis center. However, these systems use specific software developed by their manufacturers and do not interact with software of other producers nor with the most common databases; moreover, the data cannot be uploaded to hospital files. The availability of open software for cyclers allowing data to be exported to common database formats would enable us to compare different APD systems. A future goal might therefore be the integration of different APD software systems into a global standard.

[Antimicrobial agents for preventing peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis: guideline from the Italian Society of Nephrology]. / Strategie antimicrobiche per la prevenzione delle peritoniti in dialisi peritoneale: Linea Guida.

BACKGROUND: The current 3rd edition of the Italian Society of Nephrology guidelines has been drawn up to summarize evidence of key intervention issues on the basis of systematic reviews (SR) of randomized trials (RCT) or RCT data only. The present guideline reports evidence of the use of antimicrobial agents for preventing peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis (PD). METHODS: SR of RCT and RCT on treatments aiming at preventing peritoneal dialysis peritonitis were identified referring to a Cochrane Library and Renal Health Library search (2005 update). Quality of SR and RCT was assessed according to current methodological standards. RESULTS: One SR and 19 RCT were found addressing this issue. Staphylococcus Aureus nasal carriage treatment with mupirocin reduces exit-site and tunnel infections but not peritonitis. Topical gentamicin treatment on the exit site reduces Staphylococcus Aureus infection and peritonitis incidence. Intravenous antibiotics administration prior to catheter placement significantly reduces the risk of early peritonitis but not exit-site and tunnel infections. Oral nistatin associated with antibiotic treatment significantly reduces the incidence of Candida peritonitis. No other prophylaxis measure seems to be effective based on available evidence. CONCLUSION: In patients on peritoneal dialysis current evidence supports the hypothesis that topical mupirocin reduces the risk of Staphylococcus Aureus peritonitis, intravenous antibiotics prior to catheter placement prevent the risk of early peritonitis, and oral nistatin reduces the risk of Candida peritonitis. Further studies are necessary to test the effectiveness of other interventions.

[Catheter-related interventions to prevent peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis: guideline from the Italian Society of Nephrology]. / Strategie correlate al catetere per la prevenzione delle peritoniti in dialisi peritoneale: Linea Guida.

BACKGROUND: The current 3rd edition of the Italian Society of Nephrology guidelines has been drawn up to summarize evidence of key intervention issues on the basis of systematic reviews (SR) of randomized trials (RCT) or RCT data only. The present guideline report evidence of catheter-related interventions to prevent peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis (PD). METHODS: SR of RCT and RCT of catheter-related interventions to prevent peritonitis in PD were identified referring to a Cochrane Library and Renal Health Library search (2005 update). RESULTS: Two SR and 17 RCT were found addressing this issue. Methodological quality of available RCT was suboptimal according to current methodological standards. The use of the Y-set systems with disinfectant and the twin-bag systems was associated with a significantly lower risk of peritonitis. No other catheter-related interventions were found to be of proven efficacy in preventing the risk of peritonitis and exit-site/tunnel infection in PD patients. CONCLUSION: It is still unknown whether any particular PD catheter design or implantation technique are effective to prevent peritonitis in patients on peritoneal dialysis. Further studies are necessary to test the effectiveness of new interventions.

[Treating peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis: guideline from the Italian Society of Nephrology]. / Terapia iniziale della peritonite in dialisi peritoneale: Linea Guida.

BACKGROUND: The current 3rd edition of the Italian Society of Nephrology guidelines has been drawn up to summarize evidence of key intervention issues on the basis of systematic reviews (SR) of randomized trials (RCT) or RCT data only. The present guideline reports evidence of interventions to treat peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis (PD). METHODS: SR of RCT and RCT on treatments for peritoneal dialysis peritonitis were identified referring to a Cochrane Library and Renal Health Library search (2005 update). Quality of SR and RCT was assessed according to current methodological standards. RESULTS: Thirty-six RCT were found addressing the intervention issue. Vancomycin or first generation cephalosporins may be used for treating peritoneal dialysis peritonitis due to Gram-positive agents. Third-generation cephalosporins or amino-glycosides may be used for Gram-negative agents peritonitis. Association of first-generation cephalosporins and agents against Gram-negative bacteria via the intraperitoneal route represents the most frequently used approach. Intraperitoneal administration of antibiotic agents is the most effective treatment of peritoneal dialysis peritonitis. Intermittent administration may be preferred to continuous administration of antibiotic agents in peritoneal dialysis peritonitis. CONCLUSION: In peritoneal dialysis peritonitis current evidence supports the hypothesis that intraperitoneal administration of antibiotics agents and intermittent administration may be preferred to other routes of administration and continuous administration. Further studies are necessary to test this hypothesis in selected patient populations.

Pathogenetic aspects of uremic cardiomyopathy.

We have considered just some of the many factors which may affect myocardial function, assessed by means of echocardiography, in uremic patients. Our findings support the view of a multifactorial genesis of the cardiac involvement in uremic patients.