A virtuous diagnostic and therapeutic roadmap triggered by a motivated and skilful urinary sediment examination.

In this paper we describe how an accurate urinary sediment examination, which revealed the presence of a severe 2,8-dihydroxyadenine crystalluria, opened the way to an articulate and successful diagnostic and therapeutic roadmap for a rare and potentially severe renal disease.

Microscopic examination of urine sediment: Phase contrast versus bright field.

BACKGROUND: Today, phase contrast microscopy (PCM) is the recommended technique for manual urinary sediment (U-sed) examination. In fact, compared to bright field microscopy (BFM), it allows a better identification of most U-sed particles. METHODS: The main contributions, both as original papers in medical journals and as monographs on PCM applied to U-sed examination, published in the period 1950-1982 (which was chosen because it includes the results of the most important investigations on the subject) were identified and analysed. Moreover, a brief analysis on the use of PCM in U-sed examination today was carried out. RESULTS: After the discovery of PCM by the Dutch physicist Frits Zernike in the 1930s, several contributions were published, most of which are forgotten today. All of them demonstrated the advantages of PCM over BFM in identifying the U-sed particles, especially casts, renal tubular epithelial cells, atypical urothelial cells associated with urothelial carcinoma, and erythrocytes (which for the 1st time were classified as dysmorphic - of glomerular origin - and isomorphic - of non glomerular origin). The analysis of six recent monographs on U-sed or urinalysis, written in English and with an international distribution, demonstrated that only in two of them the U-sed particles were mostly shown by PCM. CONCLUSION: Several papers and monographs, published since the early 1950s, have demonstrated the advantages of PCM over BFM for U-sed examination. In spite of this, PCM is not as widely used as it should be.

Very unusual "needle- and pencil-like" uric acid crystals in the urine unmasked by infrared spectroscopy investigation.

In this paper we describe a case with very unusual "needle- and pencil-like" crystals, partly similar to those reported by other investigators, who considered them as due to uric acid. Quite importantly, infrared spectroscopy investigation which, to our knowledge, we have been the first to perform on this type of crystals, confirmed their nature as uric acid structures. This case demonstrates that the planet of urinary crystals still has several unknown facets and still deserves exploration.

"Daisy-like" crystals: A rare and unknown type of urinary crystal.

BACKGROUND: Crystals are well known structures of urinary sediment, most of which are identified by the combined knowledge of crystal morphology, birefringence features at polarized light, and urine pH. In this paper, we report on a cohort of subjects whose urine contained a very rare type of crystal, which we first described in 2004 and which, based on its peculiar morphology, we define as "daisy-like crystal" (DLcr). METHODS: Reports on DLcr were spontaneously sent to our laboratory over a 10.5-year period by different laboratory professionals and by one veterinary clinician who, in their everyday work, had come across DLcr. After the examination of DLcr images submitted, a number of other information were requested and partly obtained. RESULTS: DLcr were found in 9 human beings in 7 different laboratories, located in 4 countries (Italy, Belgium, Croatia, France). DLcr were found mostly in female (8/9), at all ages (3.5 to 93years), mostly in alkaline urine (pH6.0 to 7.5), at variable specific gravity values (1.010 to 1.030), either as isolated particles (2/8) or in association with other crystals (5/8) and/or leucocytes or bacteria (3/8). In addition, DLcr were found in the urine of a 1-year-old dog, examined in a veterinary clinic of Czech Republic. In 3 cases, DLcr were identified by manual microscopy, while in 7 cases by automated urine sediment analyzers. CONCLUSIONS: This paper confirms the possible presence in the urine of DLcr. However, further cases are needed to clarify their frequency, clinical meaning, and composition.

The different ways to obtain digital images of urine microscopy findings: Their advantages and limitations.

We describe three ways to take digital images of urine sediment findings. Way 1 encompasses a digital camera permanently mounted on the microscope and connected with a computer equipped with a proprietary software to acquire, process and store the images. Way 2 is based on the use of inexpensive compact digital cameras, held by hands - or mounted on a tripod - close to one eyepiece of the microscope. Way 3 is based on the use of smartphones, held by hands close to one eyepiece of the microscope or connected to the microscope by an adapter. The procedures, advantages and limitations of each way are reported.

Atypical/malignant urothelial cells in routine urinary sediment: worth knowing and reporting.

BACKGROUND: Urinary cytology (Ucytol), which is performed in pathology laboratories on fixed and stained samples, represents the gold standard for the identification of atypical/malignant urothelial cells (A/MUC) due to urothelial carcinoma. In this paper we describe three patients in whom A/MUC, due to a bladder carcinoma, were identified with conventional urine sediment (Used) examination on unfixed and unstained samples. METHODS: Included are urine samples prepared with conventional and standardized techniques as currently used in general clinical laboratories. Samples were examined with phase contrast microscopy. A/MUC were identified according to the criteria currently used for Ucytol. RESULTS: A/MUC (i.e., cells with unusual and pleomorphic size and shape, increased nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, increased number of nuclei, irregular nuclear borders and irregular chromatin patterns, either isolated or in clusters) were identified in the urine of three patients, all of whom were found to have bladder carcinoma by cystoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: At variance with the common and widespread view, A/MUC can also be identified with conventional Used examination, even though Ucytol still represents the gold standard method.

[Acute renal failure in Burkina Faso]. / L'insuffisance rénale aiguë au Burkina Faso.

The prognostic of uremic syndrome had been improved by the development of renal replacement therapy. Uremic syndrome remains a dramatic medical concern in African sub-saharan countries. Nephrology practice has been introduced recently in Burkina Faso and epidemiological data on acute renal failure is not available. We conducted this study with the aim to describe the clinical profile of hospitalized patients. One hundred and twenty-one patients (18.4% of all admissions) with acute renal failure (creatinine>240micromol/L, abrupt onset) were included (age: 38.6+/-16.3y; creatinine: 1246.1+/-870.5micromol/L; urea: 40.2+/-18.3micromol/L), 75 men (age: 41.2+/-16.4) and 46 women (age: 34.2+/-15.2y). Acute renal failure was of medical cause in 91 cases, surgical cause in 16 cases and gyneco-obstetrical in 14 cases. Many pathophysiological factors have been identified like volume depletion, infections and obstruction. Acute renal failure was renal in 57 cases (age: 38.2+/-14.6y), prerenal in 43 cases (age: 36.8+/-16.7y) counting acute tubular necrosis in 21 cases, obstructive in 15 cases (age: 50.5+/-15.6y) and unclassified in six cases. Comorbidities have been identified: heart failure (13 cases), hepatocellular failure (eight cases), tumours (four cases) and severe hypertension (13 cases). Dialysis was justified in 84 cases but only accomplished in 14 cases. Hospital length of stay was 20.4+/-14.9 days. Twenty-nine patients died and causes were uraemia in 13 cases, hepatic in three cases, sepsis in 10 cases, malignant tumour in two cases and associated in one case.

[The classics of Italian nephrology: ''Hormones in renal physiology and renal pathology'' by Silvano Lamperi (1922-2008) e Rodolfo Cheli (1928-1997)]. / I Classici della Nefrologia Italiana. ''Gli ormoni nella fisiologia e nella patologia del rene'' di Silvano Lamperi (1922-2008) e Rodolfo Cheli (1928-1997).

This monograph, published in 1955, describes the effects that cortisone, desoxycorticosterone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, growth hormone, and testosterone have on renal function, renal metabolism and renal enzymatic activity. The two main chapters of the book describe the experimental results obtained by the authors with the administration of the above-mentioned hormones to rats in terms of renal morphology and function both in basal conditions and after the injection of nephroptoxic substances. Interestingly, the effects on function were evaluated by the measurement of the consumption of oxygen by kidney sections incubated with hormones in different experimental conditions. The results demonstrated that both cortisone and adrenocorticosterone could have a protective effect on kidney damage, which could be used for clinical purposes. Today, the monograph by Lamperi and Cheli is interesting because it shows that advanced experimental research was carried out in Italy in the early 1950s. Moreover, it represents an early attempt to the application of experimental results to the clinic.

[The Classics of Italian Nephrology: ''The physiopathological basis for the nosography and the classification of bilateral kidney diseases'' by Pio Bastai (1888-1975) and Massimo Crepet (1911-1994)]. / I Classici della Nefrologia Italiana. ''I fondamenti fisiopatologici per la nosografia e la classificazione delle malattie renali bilaterali'' di Pio Bastai (1888-1975) e Massimo Crepet (1911-1994).

The paper ''I fondamenti fisiopatologici per la nosografia e la classificazione delle malattie renali bilaterali'' (The physiopathological basis for the nosography and the classification of bilateral kidney diseases'') by Pio Bastai (1888-1975) and Massimo Crepet (1911-1994) was presented at the 54th Congress of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine, which was held in October 1953 in Rome. In the report, the authors proposed their own classification of renal diseases based on a ''physopathological'' criterion and different from the classifications proposed by other authors of the period. According to Bastai and Crepet, renal diseases could be classified into arteriolopathies (either acute or chronic), capillary diseases (glomerulonephritides, including inflammatory and noninflammatory forms), renal diseases due to circulatory failure, nephropathies due to toxic substances, interstitial nephropathies, and idiopathic nephropathies. Of particular interest today is the part of the paper on the nosography of the so-called ''genuine glomerulonephrosis'' which, at variance with the view of the leading clinicians at the time, was placed among the inflammatory glomerulonephritides. In addition, the authors expressed their uncertainty about the existence of primary chronic interstitial nephropathies. Today, the paper by Bastai and Crepet shows how difficult it was to propose a classification of renal diseases in a period when the use of renal biopsy was still in its infancy.

[The classics of Italian nephrology. 'Functional semiology of the kidney' by Giovanni Gigli (1913-1988) and Sergio Giovannetti (1924-2000)]. / I Classici della Nefrologia Italiana. ''Semeiologia funzionale del rene'' di Giovanni Gigli (1913-1988) e Sergio Giovannetti (1924-2000).

The monograph Semeiologia funzionale del rene (Functional semiology of the kidney) by Giovanni Gigli (1913-1988) and Sergio Giovanetti (1924-2000), published in 1953, was the first systematic survey on the subject to appear in Italy. Besides the classical renal function tests (urinalysis, BUN measurement, urea clearance), the book recounts the many new techniques that were introduced into clinical practice in that period as a result of the great advances in the field of renal physiology (e.g., glomerular filtration rate, renal plasma and blood flow, tubular water reabsorption, maximum tubular excretion and reabsorption capacity, filtration fraction). In addition, it describes the utility and pitfalls of such tests in a wide spectrum of kidney diseases, but especially in different types of glomerulonephritis, of which the two authors had collected a personal cohort of 48 patients. Today, the monograph by Gigli and Giovannetti shows the difficulties and uncertainties encountered in the evaluation of kidney diseases in a period in which renal biopsy was yet to become the widely used technique it is today.

[The classics of Italian nephrology: the monograph "La nefropatia diabetica" (Diabetic nephropathy) by Luigi Scapellato (1918-1998)]. / I Classici della Nefrologia Italiana. ''La nefropatia diabetica'' di Luigi Scapellato (1918-1998).

This monograph, published in 1953, describes the findings observed by the author in a cohort of patients affected by diabetes mellitus and renal disease. From a pathological standpoint, the typical renal lesion is represented by ''nodular intercapillary glomerulosclerosis'', which is present in 8 out of 20 patients at postmortem. Marked proteinuria and edema are the most typical clinical features. Urinary sediment examination is the only test allowing to differentiate diabetic nephropathy from other glomerular diseases. In the initial phases, the glomerular filtration rate is increased rather than reduced. The evolution is almost invariably towards end-stage renal disease, and a hypoglucidic diet and insulin are the only therapeutic modalities available. Today this work shows us, on the one hand, how many uncertainties still existed about diabetic nephropathy 17 years after its first description by Kimmelstiel and Wilson in 1936. On the other hand, it shows how much relevant and still valid information was already known at the time. Luigi Scapellato, who is almost completely forgotten today, began his career at the Clinica Medica of the University of Rome under the guidance of Cesare Frugoni (1881-1978). In 1959, he moved to Syracuse (Sicily) to work as director of the internal medicine unit of the ''Umberto I'' Hospital. In April 1957 he was among the 13 founders of the Italian Society of Nephrology.

[Historical Archives of Italian Nephrology. Gabriele Monasterio (1903-1972) and the School of Pisa]. / Archivi storici della Nefrologia Italiana: Gabriele Monasterio (1903-1972) e la Scuola di Pisa.

Gabriele Monasterio (1903-1972), a clinician with numerous medical interests, contributed remarkably to the development of the Italian nephrology of his time. His main scientific contributions were: - Investigation of the causes of normoglycaemic glycosuria. Of this condition he collected, from 1939 on, a large series of patients whom he also investigated - for the first time in the world - with renal biopsy and - thanks to a collaboration with Jean Oliver - the microdissection of the nephron. - Introduction, in the early 1960s, of a low protein diet for the patients with chronic renal failure. This, thanks to the stud-ies published by Monasterio co-workers Quirino Maggiore and Sergio Giovannetti, was largely used in Italy and abroad. - Classification of the nephropathies. This was described in the monograph Le Nefropatie Mediche (1954 and 1970), which had a large impact and today represents a classic of the Italian nephrological literature. Monasterio served remarkably the Italian Society of Nephrology: in 1957 as a member of the founding committee; from 1959 to 1962 and from 1964 to 1968 as President; in 1958, 1962, and 1964 as organizer of the National Congress; from 1962 to his death as the Editor-in-Chief of the official journal of the Society, Minerva Nefrologica. Finally, Monasterio was also a member of the first council of the International Society of Nephrology.

Risk factors associated to kidney stones in primary hyperparathyroidism.

Nephrolithiasis is the most important clinical manifestation of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), although nowadays this disorder is often asymptomatic. Clinical or biochemical differences between PHPT patients with and without nephrolithiasis have not been clearly identified in most of the previous studies. The aim of the study was to investigate clinical and biochemical parameters in kidney stone former (SF) and non-stone former (NSF) patients with PHPT in order to identify potential risk factors. Serum and plasma samples from 55 consecutive patients (43 females, 12 males) with PHPT were collected after overnight fasting; 24-h urine collection and a fresh sample of urine for sediment analysis were obtained from all patients. Clinical data were recorded in all. Out of 55 patients, 22 had kidney stones, which were symptomatic in 73%. SFs showed circulating PTH, total and ionized calcium, 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3, urinary calcium excretion and 24-h urine oxalate levels significantly higher than NSFs. Hypercalciuria was often concomitant with massive quantities of calcium oxalate crystals in urine sediment. Hypercalciuria and relatively high oxaluria were associated with stone formation with an odds ratio (OR) of 4.0 and 7.0, respectively, which rose to 33.5 when they coexisted. Hypomagnesuria and hypocitraturia were common in at least one third of all PHPT patients, but they were not associated to an increased OR. As expected, they were positively correlated with urine calcium excretion, suggesting that calcium, magnesium and citrate are commonly regulated at renal level. In conclusion, hypercalciuria, higher oxalate excretion and severe PHPT are associated with kidney stones in PHPT.

[Historical Archives of Italian Nephrology: the artificial kidney commissioned in 1947 by Aminta Fieschi (1904-1991)]. / Archivi storici della Nefrologia Italiana: Il rene artificiale fatto costruire da Aminta Fieschi (1904-1991) nel 1947.

Aminta Fieschi, a physician who is today remembered mainly for his contributions in the field of haematology, in the late 1940s devoted himself to the study of the treatment of uraemia. For this reason he commissioned, a manufacturer based in Milano, an artificial kidney, which was built on the design of the "rotating-drum kidney" described by Willem Kolff in 1947 in his epoch-making monograph "New Ways of Treating Uraemia". However, after using that artificial kidney in few patients Fieschi abandoned it due to dangerous cardiovascular complications, and shifted to the use of other safer techniques such as intestinal perfusion. This paper describes the main contributions of Fieschi in the field of nephrology as well as the features of artificial kidney he used, whose manufacturer has been identified and retraced after more than fifty years by the author.

[Historical archives of Italian nephrology: Introduction of the artificial kidney in Italy]. / Archivi Storici della Nefrologia Italiana: L introduzione del rene artificiale in Italia.

In Italy the first attempts at haemodialysis, first in vitro and animals and then in humans, were carried out in the early 1950s by the surgeons Mario Battezzati e Carlo Taddei of Genoa with an artificial kidney of their own design. During the same years several other surgeons and urologists in Padua, Milan, Turin, Florence, Modena, Rome, Naples and Palermo designed their own artificial kidneys, which were used to treat anuric patients suffering from acute renal failure. The lively interest in artificial kidneys led, in 1954, to the organisation of a symposium on the subject. This was the first symposium of its kind not only in Italy but also at European level and was characterised by a wide discussion on all aspects associated with extracorporeal dialysis. In subsequent years the use of artificial kidneys continued to develop in several of the above-mentioned Italian centres, something that in the early 1960s led to the introduction of chronic haemodialysis. This paper shows how in Italy the use of artificial kidneys was characterised by intense experimental and clinical activity as well as original approaches to the many problems associated with the use of this technique.

Role of proteinuria reduction in the progression of IgA nephropathy.

UNLABELLED: Proteinuria has been shown to play a causal role in the progression towards ESRD of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). We demonstrated that steroids are effective in reducing proteinuria and preserving renal function. AIM: to evaluate the long-term effect of steroids in IgAN patients (6th year evaluation) and better clarify the role of proteinuria reduction in slowing down the progression. METHODS: multicenter randomized controlled trial of 86 adult IgAN patients with serum creatinine < or = 1.5 mg/ dL and moderate proteinuria. They received either supportive therapy or methylprednisolone 1-g i.v. for three days at months 1, 3, and 5, plus oral prednisone (0.5 mg/kg every other day for six months). RESULTS: Proteinuria significantly decreased in the treated patients (from 2.0+/-0.60 g/24 h at baseline to 1.0+/-0.68 g/24 h at six months) and remained stable till the 6th year (0.67+/-0.5 g/24 h), it slightly decreased in the control group. Six-year renal survival was significantly better in the steroid than in the control group: 9 patient (20.9%) in the steroid group and 15 (34.8%) in the control group reached the primary end-point of a 50% increase in serum creatinine from baseline. Five controls and none of the steroid-treated patients started dialysis. Steroid-treated patients did not experience any major side effects during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Steroids significantly reduce proteinuria and protect against renal function deterioration in IgAN patients. Early reduction of proteinuria could also be marker of a persistent reduction in its levels over time and of a better outcome in the long term.