20 years since the establishment of the BANTAO association (Balkan Cities Association of Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation and Artificial Organs).

The Balkan Cities Association of Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation and Artificial Organs (BANTAO) was born in Ohrid on October 9, 1993. The war in former Yugoslavia negatively affected the development of nephrology and also the connections among the nephrologists from the Balkans. However, there was willingness for further mutual collaboration between the nephrologists from the Balkans. The war in Yugoslavia created hate among people, between the newly established countries, and there were problems with the recognition of the names of the new countries, and so, the nephrologists decided to apply the ancient principle of using the names of the cities, instead of the countries, as the founders of the Association. The main goal of BANTAO is to promote scientific and technical cooperation in the fields of renal disease and artificial organs between the regions on the Balkan Peninsula and the world, to give an opportunity for exchange of experience and knowledge among the experts in the area and to engage in collaborative projects in order to demonstrate that cooperation is possible even on the turbulent Balkan Peninsula. The I BANTAO congress was held in Varna from September 22 to 24th, 1995 (President--D. Nenov, Varna). The II congress of BANTAO was held from September 6th to 10th, 1997 in Struga, (President--M. Polenakovic, Skopje). The III BANTAO congress was held in Belgrade from September 18th to 20th, 1998 (President--Lj. Djukanovic, Belgrade). The IV congress of BANTAO was held in Izmir from 14th to 16th November 1999 (President--A. Akcicek, Izmir). The V Congress of BANTAO was held in Thessaloniki from September 30th to October 3rd, 2001 (President--P. Stathakis, Athens). The VI Congress of BANTAO was held for the second time in Varna from 6th to 9th October 2003 (President--D. Nenov, Varna). The VII congress of BANTAO was held from September 8th to 11th, 2005 in Ohrid, (President--M. Polenakovic, Skopje). The VIII BANTAO congress was held in Belgrade, 16-19 September 2007 (President--V. Nesic, Belgrade). The IX BANTAO congress was held in Antalya, 18-22 November 2009 (President--A. Basci, Izmir). The X BANTAO congress was held from 13 to 15 October 2011 in Chalkidiki (President--D. Tsakiris, Thessaloniki). The XI BANTAO congress is being held on 26-29 September 2013 in Timisoara (President--A. Schiller, Timisoara). At the VII BANTAO Congress for the first time a CME Course was organized by ERA/EDTA and ISN/COMGAN entitled "Frontiers in Nephrology" with seven distinguished speakers. Very important event in the existence of BANTAO is the appearance of the BANTAO journal in 2003. The BANTAO journal has been published biannually since 2003. In the past 10 years, 20 regular issues; 2 supplements (Antalia and Chalkidiki congresses) have been published. Editors of the journal were as follows: 2003-2005--D. Nenov, Editor; 2005-2009--A. Basci, Editor; 2009--Goce Spasovski, Editor. Until now 332 papers have been published. The BANTAO journal is on EBSCO, DOAJ, SCOPUS. After the First Congress of BANTAO, F. Valderrábano, chairman of the EDTA--ERA Registry, at that time, wrote in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (1996) 11:740: "Nephrologists of the Balkan countries meet across political frontiers and war fronts--an example to politicians! BANTAO: a new European Medical Association overcomes Political obstacles." Despite the difficulties imposed by major events, such as devastating wars and catastrophic earthquakes in many countries of the Balkan Peninsula BANTAO has made considerable progress. The BANTAO Congress was established as the major scientific and institutional forum for Balkan nephrologists, with its own journal, indicating our will to communicate, to collaborate, to get to know each other and to share our difficulties. Now, we expect further successful work of BANTAO.

Current applications of plasmapheresis in clinical toxicology.

The clinical applications of plasmapheresis are rapidly increasing in number and scope. This trend is also observed in the application of plasmapheresis as a method of detoxification in clinical toxicology. Because of a lack of large controlled series, the rationale for using plasmapheresis must be confirmed in each type of intoxication by evidence of effective clearance, as well as by high plasma protein binding and a low volume of distribution of the toxic substance. Plasmapheresis is used mostly to treat phalloid mushroom intoxications. In this potentially fatal intoxication, for which there is no antidote, plasmapheresis is at least as effective as haemoperfusion in reducing mortality from as high as 30-50% with conventional therapy to <20%. In our series of 28 patients treated with plasmapheresis, mortality was 17.8%. In our experience, plasmaphe-resis is also very effective in the treatment of life-threatening intoxications with tricyclic (amitriptyline) and 4-cyclic (maprotyline) antidepressants. We confirmed a 63% reduction in the plasma level of amitriptyline in one patient after single plasmapheresis. Other drugs such as L-thyroxine, verapamil, diltiazem and carbamazepime are also removed effectively by plasmapheresis, as are theophylline and heavy metals (mercury and vanadate). Phosphoroorganic substances are not removed effectively. We measured the plasma concentrations of dimethoate in two patients with this intoxication and did not find clinically significant clearance with plasmapheresis.

Balkan nephropathy: a disorder of renal embryogenesis?

There is evidence to suggest that a renal embryogenesis disorder, with an associated deficit of nephrons, may be the cause of nephropathy later in the lives of patients with Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN). This evidence includes the renal dysplasia or hypoplasia observed in BEN patients, the high incidence of renal pelvic and renal artery aberrations, primitive glomeruli and obstructed tubules on kidney biopsy, and an adult Fanconi-type syndrome of generalized proximal tubular dysfunction with hyperchloremic acidosis, potassium wasting, preserved urinary acidification, tubular proteinuria, aminoaciduria, uricosuria, hypomagnesemia, sodium wasting and normotension, as well as evidence from epidemiological data. The disease has affected no more than 2 generations, most of whom were in their 50s during 1965-1970, when maximal numbers of patients were seen. We are now observing a decreasing prevalence of BEN in Bulgaria and, even though this may have resulted from some prophylactic measures, the disease disappears much as it had appeared, as an epidemic. We speculate that some environmental factor may have had an impact on embryogenesis and resulted in nephropathy in patients with BEN. This could have been famine during the devastating Balkan wars in the beginning of 20th century, but may also have been an infectious or environmental factor, limited to the affected areas around the Danube river, which acted only during a limited period of time.