Percutaneous bedside placement of PDCs by nephrologists provides a safe and reliable access for peritoneal dialysis.

Victims of catastrophic earthquakes are characterized by a high incidence of renal problems and the need for dialysis support. The incidence of nephrological problems is lower in children, while the period of time under the rubble is not a prognostic indicator of survival.

A bstractEssential hypertension is a m ultifactorial disease in w hich genetic and envirom ental factors play an im portant role. These factors differ in each population. As there are no existing data for the Turkish population, w e investigated four Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) gene polym orphism s, the angiotensin converting enzym e (ACE), angiotensinogen (AG N) M 235T/T174M and angiotensin II type 1 receptor A1166C polym orphism in 109 hypertensive and 86 norm otensive Turkish subjects. Polym erase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Restriction Fragm ent Length Polym orphism (RFLP), and agarose gel electrophoresis tecniques w ere used to determ ine these polym orphism . The frequencies of person that carry ACE D allel (DD+ID) w as significantly higher in hypertensive group (99.1% ) than controls (80%) (P 0.000). M235T TT genotype was also found significantly higher in hypertensives than control group (20% vs 2.7% ; P 0.001). The frequency of AG N 174M allele w as higher in the hypertensive group than control subjects (8.76% vs 4.81% ). Frequency of ATR1 C allele (AC+CC genotypes) w as found higher hypertensives than controls (39.4% vs 25.9% ; P = 0.054). O ur results suggest that an interaction exists between the RAS genes and hypertension in Turkish population.

FMF is the leading cause of secondary amyloidosis in Turkey, followed by tuberculosis. Oedema accompanied by proteinuria is the most prominent presenting finding, and hypotension seems to be common among these patients.

Cardiovascular events occur more frequently in sodium-sensitive patients with essential hypertension; recently, sodium sensitivity was shown to be a cardiovascular risk factor independently of other classic factors such as blood pressure and cigarette smoking This study examined the relationship between salt sensitivity status and target organ damage in hypertensive patients. Ninety-six patients (35 men, 61 women) with moderate essential hypertension were studied for salt sensitivity status and the presence of target organ damage, including hypertensive retinopathy, serum creatinine, creatinine clearance, and urinary albumin excretion (UAE). Four different patterns of left ventricular anatomic adaptation were identified by categorizing patients according to the values of left ventricular mass index and relative wall thickness by the means of echocardiography. Forty-five (47%) patients were shown to be salt-sensitive, in contrast to 51 (53%) salt-resistant subjects. Serum creatinine and UAE were significantly higher in the group of salt-sensitive hypertensives (P < .05 and P < .001, respectively). Left ventricular mass index (LVMI), relative wall thickness (RWT), and left atrial index (LAI) were all significantly higher in the group of salt-sensitive hypertensive patients. Concentric hypertrophy was significantly more prevalent in the salt-sensitive group (37.8% v 11.8%; P < .01). The prevalence of hypertensive retinopathy in the salt-sensitive group was 84.4%, in contrast to 59.6% in the salt-resistant group (P < .01). Multivariate regression analysis revealed salt sensitivity as a significant predictor of LVMI, RWT, and UAE, independently of age, body mass index, and mean blood pressure. In conclusion, salt-sensitive hypertensive patients are more prone to develop severe hypertensive target organ damage that may enhance their risk of renal and cardiovascular morbidity.