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Current dialysis technologies require vast quantities of pure water; however, water is a finite resource and water scarcity is increasing globally. For dialysis to be sustainable, a critical need exists for innovative approaches that address the consumption and wastage of water by dialysis.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses important challenges to the care of patients with immune-mediated kidney diseases and to kidney transplant recipients. Here, we discuss the management of immunosuppression for these patients during the pandemic and suggest potential approaches that could be considered in the absence of validated strategies.
An obligation of medical journals is the responsible, professional and expeditious delivery of knowledge from researchers and practitioners to the community. The task of editors, therefore, rests not merely in selecting what to publish, but in judging how it might best be communicated. The challenge of improving descriptions of kidney function and disease in medical publishing was the impetus for a KDIGO consensus conference. The conference goals included standardizing and refining kidney-related nomenclature and developing a glossary to be used by journals.
New exposome-based approaches permit omic-scale characterization of the non-genetic contributors to kidney disease. High-resolution mass spectrometry analysis of plasma and urine samples captures a wide range of exogenous and endogenous metabolites that can be used in combination with genetic risk factors to identify new biomarkers of exposure and therapeutic approaches.
Kidney failure is associated with the retention and subsequent accumulation of uraemic toxins, which have detrimental effects on various physiological processes. The removal of these toxins by current dialysis modalities is inadequate, highlighting the need for innovative approaches to enhance their clearance and/or suppress their generation to improve outcomes for patients with kidney disease.
Growing genomic knowledge has provided immense insight into the aetiology and mechanisms of kidney diseases but raises ethical issues that risk the successful implementation of genomic medicine. We highlight such issues in two contexts: the return of individual genetic results from nephrology research and preimplantation genetic diagnosis for heritable kidney diseases.
The need for innovation in dialysis is long overdue. As past and present users of dialysis we are fully aware of the limitations of current dialysis modalities. The time for complacency is over — developers must engage with dialysors to ensure that our needs are met so that we can live the best life possible. Let us share our dream for devices that will enable us to enjoy life.
Haemodialysis is a life-saving therapy. However, in comparison with the healthy kidney, it removes only a small fraction of the uraemic toxins produced, does not function continuously and cannot replicate biological kidney functions. Innovations in membrane design hold promise to overcome these limitations with potential to improve patient outcomes.
Peritoneal dialysis and haemodialysis are lifesaving but intrusive treatments that are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Despite the considerable time patients with kidney failure spend tied to their life-saving therapies, relatively few vital signs are monitored. Smart, unobtrusive approaches to track clinical parameters could help to individualize treatments and improve patient outcomes.
Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the dialysis modality of choice for many regions. The application of innovative technology has led to the development of new PD devices that reduce the environmental and economic costs of the therapy, as well as miniaturized devices that provide greater freedom for patients.
The prevalence of direct kidney involvement in novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is low, but such involvement is a marker of multiple organ dysfunction and severe disease. Here, we explore potential pathways of kidney damage and discuss the rationale for extracorporeal support with various blood purification strategies in patients who are critically ill with COVID-19.
