A functioning AVF may be associated with a slowing of the eGFR decline. Agreeing to timely AVF creation selects patients in an otherwise typical population and other confounders have not yet been eliminated. To do so a thorough prospective observational study is indicated.

Kidney dialysis evolves as we learn more about the uremic condition. At its earliest versions the major transport process was diffusion, the spontaneous movement of particles down a concentration gradient, stimulated by thermal agitation, and affected by the collision of the particles with each other and with barriers such as dialysis membrane pore side walls. As dialysis was utilized to replace kidney function ultrafiltration (UF) was required, which could be generated by osmotic, oncotic, or hydrostatic pressures. Consequently, solvent drag effects of the UF led to an appreciation of the importance of convective transport and its advantageous property of increasing the removal of larger molecular sized (molecular weight + steric hindrance effects) species. Thus, modern dialysis generally utilizes both diffusive and convective transport and current devices and equipment allow for either process to occur independently or in combination. However, during convection solute is removed but concentrations in the retentate may not decrease unless substitution fluid is administered, a process called hemofiltration. Diffusion can occur without any UF. Appreciation of these extremes is important to the understanding of modern dialysis. Currently, dialysis cannot replace the endocrine or metabolic functions of the kidney so our discussion will be restricted to solute and fluid removal.

The renal manifestations of patients infected with HIV are diverse. Patients may have podocytopathies ranging from a minimal-change-type lesions to FSGS or collapsing glomerulopathy. Furthermore, such patients produce a variety of autoantibodies without clinical signs of the disease. Antiretroviral drugs also cause renal injury, including crystals and tubular injury, acute interstitial nephritis, or mitochondrial toxicity. In these circumstances, it is essential to perform a renal biopsy for diagnosis and to guide treatment. Here we describe a patient with HIV who presented with AKI and hematuria without concomitant systemic manifestations. Renal biopsy elucidated the cause of acute deterioration of kidney function.