Acute Kidney Injury and Chronic Kidney Disease in the Elderly and Polypharmacy.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) incidence is reported to be 10 times higher in aged people. Related to their higher prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), older patients are at high risk of toxic effects driven by drugs. METHODS: The demographics, hospitalizations, visits to the Emergency Department, pharmacological therapy, and lab tests were analyzed in 71,588 individuals. RESULTS: Data showed a higher prevalence of AKI as well as CKD in the elderly as compared to the younger group, with an associated very high mortality. A broad number of drugs was prescribed, ranging from 1 to 35, the majority being between 5 and 9 drugs. CONCLUSION: Elderly patients who developed AKI had a higher number of hospitalizations (underlying frailty), were more likely to progress to more severe stages of CKD and to be affected by other non-renal pathologies (associated comorbidities) and to be given heavier pharmacological prescriptions (polypharmacy).

[Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Kidney failure: a case report].

Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) is a rare multi-systemic disease with autosomal recessive transmission. BBS was at first considered to be homogeneous as for its genetics, but subsequent studies have shown an extensive gene variability. Currently, 21 genes (BBS1-21) present on different chromosomes have been mapped: these genes are responsible for BBS phenotypes and they show a great heterogeneity of mutations.The most common genes are BBS1 (locus 11q13) and BBS10.We show here the case of a 50 year old patient with BBS. Medical History: retinitis pigmentosa at 4 years of age evolved to complete blindness, generalized epilepsy crises, poly-syndactyly, left-hand malformation. In April 1986 developed an epileptic episode: on that occasion Chronic Kidney Failure (CKF) diagnosis and starting of haemodialysis. In 1989, hospitalization for epileptic seizures. In 2009 the patient underwent kidney transplantation from deceased donor. Immunosuppressive initial protocol: Basiliximab, Azathioprine, Tacrolimus, Steroid, and Tacrolimus, Azathioprine, Steroid at hospital discharge. Post-operative care complicated by respiratory failure with mechanical ventilation assistance. During hospitalization, the neurological picture remained stable. At hospital discharge Creatinine 1.8 mg/dl. Subsequently, immunosuppressant were gradually tapered until monotherapy with Tacrolimus. At present the patient's conditions appear to be good, renal function has remained substantially stable with Creatinine between 1.4-1.5 mg/dl and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimated at 39-42 mL/min/1.73 m ² according to MDRD study Equation. This case shows the possibility to successfully manage a BBS-affected uremic patient, despite the complexity of the pathology and the aggravating factor of extreme rarity in diagnostic pathway.

[Clinical competence in Nephrology: proposal of an evaluation pathway and definition of professional levels]. / Le competenze in Nefrologia: proposta di un percorso di valutazione e di definizione di livelli professionali.

The need to assess clinical competencies in a medical environment is an intriguing issue due to progressive involvement of young physicians in clinical practice, as well as for connections tied to evaluation systems to define postgraduate training and career progression. To reach this goal, system must be based upon contributions that are aimed to achieve a clear and homogeneous evaluation pathway and strictly related to the continuing medical education institution (credits). All these presuppositions are instrumental for the proposal of a sheet which could allow a data retrieval useful to depict a career progression by means of: identification of reproducible parameters along with clear standards; advices for indicators; objective judgments that could drive to a score meaningful for reaching higher steps in the performance evaluation. This work had been carried out at Local Health Authority 1 of Cuneo (ASLCN1) from 2014 to 2017 in order to provide a widely usable evaluation framework for all the medical workers. Aim of this work is thus to show up an original methodology, as much as possible based upon objective items, related to the professional improvement of a nephrologist working in Hospital and following him along his clinical course.