Over the last three decades the treatment options for patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) have expanded from basic acute peritoneal dialysis and intermittent hemodialysis (IHD), to now include a variety of continuous modalities (CRRT), ranging from hemofiltration, dialysis and/or hemodiafiltration, and a variety of hybrid therapies, variously described as extended daily dialysis and/or hemodiafiltration, with the possibility of additional adjunct therapies encompassing plasma separation and adsorption techniques. Current evidence does not support that one modality is superior to any other in terms of patients' survival in the intensive care unit, or at discharge. There have been two prospective audits, which have reported improved renal recovery in the survivors who were treated by CRRT rather than IHD, but this has not been confirmed in randomized controlled trials. Thus the choice of RRT modality should be guided by the individual patients' clinical status, the medical and nursing expertise in the local intensive care unit, and the availability of RRT modality.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) represents a wide range of heterogeneous clinical conditions with a high mortality rate. Despite improvements in our understanding of the disease processes, mortality has only marginally improved and remains unacceptably high. An additional consequence of AKI is the marked acceleration of pre-existing chronic kidney disease to end­stage renal disease. A major limitation in improving outcomes of AKI has been the lack of common standards for diagnosis and severity stratification. Serum creatinine is a late marker of kidney dysfunction and injury. Presently, no available commercial test offers diagnosis, nor the ability to stratify patients by severity of injury, early in the course of disease when therapy may be beneficial. The Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI) group proposed a standard definition and classification system for the syndrome of acute renal failure. Based on data that even small changes of serum creatinine result in increased mortality, the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) has recently proposed modified criteria. Both staging systems emphasize changes in serum creatinine and urine output. There is also potential that a number of serum and urine bio-markers developed in preclinical studies and currently being investigated and validated, will enable the early diagnosis of AKI.

Gender discrimination in benefiting from medical treatment is a worldwide pro­blem. Kidney transplantation, as the ideal treatment for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is not an exception. Considering the unique kidney donation patterns and different family styles in the Middle East, studying this problem in Iran seemed justifiable and necessary. In addition to comparing the numbers of female and male recipients, which has been done in other similar studies, considering the critical effect of waiting time on the outcome, we assessed and compared the waiting times also. The data of age, gender, nationality, donor type and waiting time before transplantation of 1426 (61.85% male, 38.14% female) recipients who underwent transplantation in Imam Reza Hospital in the northeast of Iran from 1990 to 2003, was analyzed. Recipients were categorised into three groups based on donation patterns: those receiving kidney from live unrelated, live related and cadaver donors. The number of patients in each group was 1057 (61.96% male, 38.03% female), 232 (67.24% male, 32.75% female) and 137 (51.82% male, 48.17% female) respectively. The mean overall waiting time was 708 days. Comparing waiting time of male and female recipients in each of these groups did not show significant difference. In all categories of donors, females were less likely than males to be recipients. Furthermore, waiting time for females was longer than males when receiving kidney from sisters and children. For spousal donations, males were recipients more frequently than females although female recipients in this group waited less than their male counterparts to receive the kidney. Generally, our results are in accordance with results of similar researches. In all three mentioned groups, males com­prised the majority while the waiting time does not show significant difference between genders. We suggest some reasons for this phenomenon, of which the two main ones are: fewer females are suffering from ESRD and/or females have less chance to find a potential donor in the family, which can be attributed to their lower socio-economic status.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) remains the most common infectious complication in renal transplant recipients. We aimed in our study to describe the epidemiological patterns and evaluate the favouring factors of UTI in our renal allograft recipients. We evaluated retrospectively all the UTIs in 47 kidney recipients transplanted from living-related kidney donors in Rabat University Hospital, Morocco, from January 1998 to December 2005. The mean follow-up was 28 ± 19 months. The mean age of the patients was 32 ± 10 years with a male/female ratio of 1.35/1. Twenty patients (42%) suffered at least one UTI episode. UTIs were asymptomatic in 70% of the patients, while manifested as acute pyelonephritis in 17% and uncomplicated acute bacterial cystitis in 13%. UTI episodes occurred in 68% of the patients during the first 3 months post­kidney transplantation with a recurrence rate of 55%, and all the patients experienced a favourable course. Gram-negative bacilli were the principally isolated agents; E. Coli was found in 60% of the patients and Klebsiella in 30%. UTI was more common in females (p = 0.04) and cases of post transplantation vesicoureteral reflux (p = 0.03). The graft survival rate at the end of the study was comparable for both UTI and non-UTI groups.

Renal transplantation is an established mode of management for patients with end­stage renal disease (ESRD). In India, majority of the patients with ESRD depend upon live donors for renal transplantation and renal vascular anomalies are commonly seen in these potential donors. We present our experience in renal transplantation using donors with vascular anomalies. During the period between 2001 and 2004, we performed 36 live related donor renal transplantations. All study patients had only one donor each, with compatible blood group. Ten of the donors had vascular anomalies. Three had bilateral double arteries, one had double left and single right renal artery, one had bilateral triple arteries, one had triple arteries on left and double arteries on right side, of which one had early branching, two had bilateral early branching of arteries, and two other cases had double renal veins. Open donor nephrectomy was performed in all the cases. End-to-side anastomosis with external iliac vein and artery of the recipient was performed by the parachuting technique. Eight kidneys had immediate diuresis after transplantation. In two kidneys, diuresis started 2-3 hours after administration of 120 mg of furosemide. All patients had serum creatinine ranging between 0.9 and 1.8 mg/dl by the 10th post-operative day. Follow-up of these cases have varied from one month to two years. In the current scenario, multiple arteries in the donor are no longer considered relative contraindications for renal transplantation. With good surgical skill and experience in bench surgery, all such donors can be accepted. Use of external iliac artery for anastomosis with the technique of parachuting makes the procedure easy and safe.

Post-transplant erythrocytosis (PTE) is characterized by persistently ele­vated hematocrit level 0 51%. This complication is reported to develop in 10-20% of renal allografts recipients, mostly 2 years after kidney transplantation. PTE is self-limited in 25% of the patients; however it may persist in patients with an increased susceptibility for thrombosis and potential fatal outcome. To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of PTE in our center, we reviewed the records of 235 patients who received renal allografts from 1999 to 2004. Polycythemia was found in 45 (19%) patients. There was no significant correlation of polycythemia and age, history of hypertension, diabetes, pre­transplant hematocrit level, pre-transplant history of transfusion, graft's function, and source of kidney. A significantly higher proportion of PTE patients were males, patients with history of polycystic kidney disease, and patients with glomerulonephritis. We conclude that PTE is an important complication of kidney transplantation. There are several risk factors that should be addressed to prevent this complication.

Chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) remains a major cause of graft failure over the long term, second only to patient mortality. The main adverse effects of cyclosporine A (CsA) include nephrotoxicity, hypertension, symptomatic hyperuricemia, hirsutism, and gum hyperplasia. Available studies among live related donor renal transplants lack adequate information regarding the long-term efficacy and safety of primary CsA-based immunosuppressive regimens. This prospective randomized study is aimed at evaluating the long-term results of CsA-based immunosuppressive protocols in live­donor kidney transplantation. The follow-up data of 444 renal transplant recipients operated at the Urology and Nephrology Center, Mansoura University, prior to 1996 were reviewed. Primary immuno­suppressive protocols included: steroids and azathioprine (group I, 130 cases); steroids and CsA (group II, 75 cases); and steroids, CsA, and azathioprine (group III, 239 cases). Only adult primary renal transplant recipients with age ranging between 18 and 60 years and one haplotype HLA mismatch with the donor were included. All patients received kidneys from living related donors with previous donor non-specific blood transfusions. The percentage of cases with chronic rejection was significantly higher in group III. Living cases with graft failure were significantly higher in group III, whereas mortality was significantly higher in group I. Diabetic patients and those with serious bacterial infections were significantly more prevalent in group II. Hypertensive patients were significantly more common in groups I and II. Liver disease was more prevalent among patients in group III. Our study suggests that the long-term results of treatment with steroids and azathioprine are satisfactory in live related donor kidney transplant recipients. Chronic rejection was significantly higher in patients in group III, possibly due to the risk of CsA nephrotoxicity. Groups with CsA-based protocols experienced many adverse reactions of CsA such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and chronic rejection

Complement-mediated cytotoxic antibodies in conventional cross match, often result in misappropriation of true positives and borderline positives which are detrimental to allograft survival. Flow cross matches (FCXM) are sensitive to capture even non comple­ment fixing cytotoxic antibodies. This retrospective study evaluates the utility of FCXM in effectively predicting acute allograft rejection. A total of 17 cases were processed for FCXM (T and B cell) of whom seven had no rejection episodes, while the remaining 11 had acute rejection despite negative cross match and panel reacting antibodies being ne­gative (less than 20%). The sensitivity and specificity of the FCXM outcome demons­trated that positive B-cell FCXM has potential to be a good tool in pre-transplant scree­ning. The current analysis proposes the possible utility of B-cell positive FCXM as a more sensitive parameter in predicting acute allograft rejection prior to transplantation.

The aim of this study is to analyze the patients' database of the Baxter's Training Peritoneal Dialysis Program (BTPDP) adopted at the Baxter Renal Education Center (BREC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in order to determine its effectiveness in the management, compliance, and outcome of the trained peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. The study analyzes the database of the BTPDP, which includes the demographic data, duration of follow-up, complications, and outcome of the patients trained on PD between September 2003 and November 2007. Records of 376 patients with a mean age of 46.0 ± 22.6 years were available in the database for analysis. Of them, 187 (49.7%) were males, 312 (82.9%) were trained at the BREC, 315 (83.8%) were new PD patients, and 298 (79.3%) were trained on automated PD (APD). The dropouts during the study period included 172 patients (46%); 42 (24.4%) were transplanted, 45 (26.2%) switched to hemodialysis, 57 (33.1%) died and 28 (16.3%) were lost to follow-up. A comparison was made between the group trained at the BREC and the group trained at the hospital. There was an overwhelming adoption of BTPDP by the different hospitals during the study period (p < 0.00001). There were 264 (84.6%) patients trained on APD at the BREC vs. 34 (53.1%) at the hospital (p < 0.00001), and the patients trained at the BREC had significantly less dropouts than those trained at the hospital during the study period 135 (43.3%) vs. 38 (59.4%) respectively (p < 0.02). The mean period of follow-up was significantly different between the patients trained at the BREC and those trained at the referring hospital (390 ± 461 days vs. 679 ± 779 days respectively (p < 00000.8). Also, there was a trend for better technique survival after the second year, among the patients trained at the BREC. We conclude that the BREC model has increased the recruitment to PD, and helped in spreading this method of renal replacement therapy among patients. This model emphasizes the role of a designated training course by an expert team, and unifies the training standards. Furthermore, application of this model can be expanded nationwide and even to other countries.

To form spermatocele from vaginal layers as a sperm reservoir and intra-uterine insemination (IUI) in infertile men with bilateral vas agenesis (BVA), we studied 19 patients with azoospermia due to BVA referred to our infertility clinic from March 1992 until May 2003. The ages of the patients ranged from 20-41 (mean 29.6 ± 5.8) years. After physical examination, hormone assay, testis biopsy, and confirming normal spermatogenesis, we have performed 23 alloplastic spermatoceles from the tunica vaginal layers in 11 patients. We retrieved sperms and performed IUI in 6 patients' wives 3 months post-operation when scrotal sonography revealed spermatocele with a good volume of seminal liquid. Among 6 patients' wives, 2 successful preg­nancies occurred, and 2 normal babies (one boy with normal bilateral vas and one girl) were delivered successfully by cesarean section. We conclude that although the method of choice for fer­tility in BVA in artificial reproductive therapy era is percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), but when the sophisticated facilities are not available or cost-effectiveness is matter of concern, alloplastic spermatocele from tunica vaginalis and IUI may be a viable option.

To assess the effect of renal failure on the survival of black African patients with cirrhosis, we studied 132 (82 males, 50 females) cirrhotic black African patients with mean age of 47.5 ±14.4 years and mean follow-up period of 373 ± 194 days. The edema and ascitis were the main reasons for admission to hospital. Renal failure was present in 30 (22.7%) patients, and it was positively correlated to the severity of the stage of the liver disease, and associated with severe hyponatremia. Survival at 1 year was 60.1% and 37.6% in the absence or presence of renal failure, respectively (p< 0.001)). The stage of the liver disease was significantly inversely corre­lated with survival, which was further diminished in the presence of renal failure:23.7% versus 12.5% for Child-Pugh-Turcote (CPT) A-B in the absence or presence of renal failure, respectively (p= 0.67), 30.2% versus 81.8% for CPT C in the absence or the presence of renal failure respectively (p< 0.001). Hyponatremia has also appeared detrimental to survival, since mortality was 38.4% versus 81.8% in the absence or the presence of hyponatremia respectively (p< 0.001). By multivariate analysis, renal failure, CPT stage C, and hyponatremia independently significantly correlated to mortality in patients with cirrhosis. We conclude that renal failure is frequently associated with decompensated cirrhosis. The presence of renal failure in this setting often results in high mortality. Renal failure that occurs in the setting of a severe liver disease and hyponatremia may be part of hepatorenal syndrome.

Tunneled cuffed central vein catheters (TCC) are widely used for delivering hemodialysis (HD). Infection is the principal cause of morbidity and mortality associated with central vein catheters in patients on HD. The optimal strategy to combat TCC infec­tion is controversial. This prospective study assesses the efficacy of antibiotic-lock therapy using vancomycin and gentamycin in preventing catheter-related blood stream bacterial infection in patients on HD. A total of 86 TCC in 69 HD patients were enrolled at the time of catheter insertion for delivering HD. Patients were randomized into two groups: Group I (36 patients-39 insertions) included TCC with antibiotic-lock therapy and Group II (33 patients-47 insertions) with routine TCC management. Infection-free catheter survi­val of both groups was evaluated and compared at the end of the 18-month study period. A total of 72 TCC infections were detected with an incidence rate of 6.78 infections/1000 dialysis sessions. The rate of infection was significantly lower in Group I (4.39/1000 dialysis sessions) compared to Group II (11.69/1000 dialysis sessions), p< 0.001. The bacteremia rate, as well as rate of clinical sepsis were also significantly lower in Group I than in Group II (p< 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of access site infec­tion in the two groups (p> 0.05). Our study suggests that antibiotic-lock therapy using a combination of vancomycin and gentamycin is useful in preventing catheter-related blood stream infection in patients on HD.

To correlate CD 4 counts with albuminuria and glomerular lesions in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), we studied 104 HIV positive patients (68 males, 36 females) of whom 100 patients were infected by heterosexual contact, 3 by transfusion, and 1 by IV drug abuse. We screened over nine months for albuminuria by urine dip stick method, and performed renal biopsy on patients with albuminuria 2+ or more. Histological examination was accomplished by light microscopy in all and by electron microscopy when it was feasible. Albuminuria was observed in 29 (27%) patients, and it revealed a significant negative correlation with CD4 count (p < 0.01). Patients with CD4 cells < 350 cells/mm ^[3] disclosed a 3.5 fold increased risk of albuminuria as compared with patients with CD4 > 350 cells/mm ^[3] . There was no significant correlation between proteinuria and the duration of infection from the time of diagnosis. Albuminuria also demonstrated a significant negative correlation with the levels of hemoglobin (p< 0.05). In addition, low numbers of CD4 cells were associated with lower levels of hemoglobin (p< 0.001). Only 10 patients received renal biopsies, and the results revealed HIV-associated nephro­pathy (HIVAN) in 7 (70%) patients, chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis in 1, membranous glome­rulopathy in 1, and diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis in 1. Acute renal failure was present in 5 patients, of whom four had a pre renal component and one had multiorgan dysfunction syndrome. We conclude that our study demonstrates that both proteinuria and HIVAN are common in HIV infected patients. Proteinuria has a negative correlation with the CD4 counts and hemoglobin levels.

Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPTH) can develop early in the course of chronic renal failure and becomes more prominent as kidney function declines. We studied the effect of diabetes, age, and dialysis on parathyroid function in 60 (21 women, 39 males; 44 non-diabetic, 16 diabetic) hemodialysis (HD) patients. Serum intact PTH (iPTH), calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and magnesium (Mg) were measured. Adequacy of HD was evaluated by calculating the urea reduction rate (URR). There were significantly lower values of serum iPTH, ALP, and dialysis adequacy among diabetic than non-diabetes HD patients. In addition, there were an inverse correlation of age and serum iPTH (r= -0.27, p= 0.034) as well as age and serum phosphorus (r= -0.28, p= 0.031). There was also a positive correlation between serum iPTH with the duration (r= 0.001, p=0.42) and doses of dialysis treatment (r= 0.38, p= 0.002). We conclude that a significant negative correlation between age and serum phosphorus and lower parathyroid activity in diabetic HD patients, which implies more prevalence of bone disease in elderly diabetic HD patients. Further study of bone disease in this group of patients is required to evaluate its effect on outcome and different therapeutic interventions.

Hemangiomas are benign lesions that occur in any part of the body. Genital hemangioma involving the entire penis and scrotum are extremely rare. More rarely they can extend in to the pelvis making preoperative imaging imperative and decisive in treatment. Very few cases have been reported in the medical literature. Hereby, a rare cavernous hemangioma that involves the entire penis, scrotum and extends into perineum and rectum in an 18-year-old male is presented with review of literature.

The association of oliguria with hyperuricosuria is often overlooked. Herein, we report an infant who since the age of five months had recurrent oliguria secondary to hyperuricosuria documented several times in the hospital. The decreased urine output co­incided with the presence of increased excretion of uric acid, which fluctuated within 24 hours as well as every few weeks. The child responded to treatment with increase in the fluid fluid intake along with the xanthine oxidase inhibitor, allopurinol. Being alert for hyperuricosuria in cases of oliguria, especially if there is history of gout or stones, may avoid performing many unnecessary investigations

Post-renal transplant de-novo inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may develop despite the presence of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), a drug used for treatment of IBD, in the immunosuppressive regimen. A 39-year-old man received live unrelated renal transplant, and was started postoperatively on prednisolone, MMF, and tacrolimus, which was changed to sirolimus when he developed diabetes mellitus two months post-transplant. Nine months post-transplant, the patient developed recurrent attacks of bloody diarrhea and ischio-rectal abscesses complicated by anal fistulae not responding to routine surgical treatment. Colonoscopy diagnosed IBD, a Crohn's disease-like pattern. The patient was treated with steroids and 5-aminosalicylic acid (5­ASA) in addition to a two months course of ciprofloxacin and metronidazole. He became asymptomatic and rectal lesions healed within one month of treatment. The patient continued to be asymptomatic, and he maintained normal graft function on the same immunosuppressive treatment in addition to 5-ASA. We conclude that de-novo IBD disease can develop in renal transplant recipients in spite of immunosuppressive therapy including MMF.

Celiac artery aneurysm (CAA) is a rare condition, which occasionally occurs in association with such visceral aneurysms as splenic, common hepatic, left hepatic, supe­rior mesenteric and renal arteries. We describe our observation of a patient with CAA and bilateral main renal artery aneurysm. To the best of our knowledge, a combination of these visceral arterial aneurysms has not been reported previously. The available literature on this topic is briefly reviewed.

A 65-year-old man who received a deceased renal allograft in September 2001. The donor of the allograft was a 54-year-old hypertensive man who expired from intracerebral hemorrhage. Atheroma with hard plaques was present in both renal arteries and aortic patches. After vascular anastomosis and clamp release, the allograft recolo-ration was inadequate, and the patient remained anuric. Computerized tomography scan demonstrated disseminated infarction areas, suggesting cholesterol emboli, which was confirmed later by a graft biopsy. As approximately 50% of the renal parenchyma was perfused, graft nephrectomy was not indicated and dialysis was restarted. Diuresis was over 3000 ml/day and serum creatinine decreased and stabilized at 360 µmol/L by the 32 ^nd postoperative day. The allograft supported the patient for only two years, and he eventually was successfully retransplanted in June 2003. We believe that delayed graft function due to cholesterol emboli disease may be reversible if areas of infarction are not too large.

Renal disease is a relatively common complication in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A collapsing form of focal glomerulosclerosis has been considered as the primary form of HIV nephropathy. HIV infection is also associated with an increasing number of different forms of renal disease. Acute renal failure (ARF) syndromes are frequently noted during the course of HIV infection. The most common include the following: acute and often reversible renal failure resulting from infection, hypotension, and administration of nephrotoxins used to treat opportunistic infections, and the use of highly active anti-retroviral therapy. ARF has been reported in up to 20% of hospitalized HIV infected patients compared to 3 to 5% of non-HIV infected patients. Primary HIV in-fection is usually symptomatic, and infected patients can present with a variety of symp-toms. Although ARF syndromes are frequently noted during the course of infection, it is an uncommon presentation of primary HIV infection. We describe a 42-year-old man who presented at our hospital with acute self-limited rhabdomyolysis and who was found to have primary HIV infection. Our case and other reports suggest that a diagnosis of primary HIV infection needs to be considered in patients who present with acute rhabdomyolysis.

To assess non-immunological complications affecting renal transplant patients in the first six months after transplantation in Al-Karama hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, we studied 68 patients (49 males, 19 females) attending the clinic during the year 2006. Forty six (67%) patients received kidneys from related and 22 (33%) from unrelated donors. The patients revealed the following complications: post transplant hypertension in 28 (41%) patient, infection (mostly bacterial) in 27 (37%), new onset diabetes in 11 (16%), calcineurin inhibitor toxicity in 10 (14%), anemia in 8 (12%), surgical complications in 7 (10%), slow graft recovery in 4 (6%), cardiovascular complications in 3 (4%), and Kaposi sarcoma in 2 (2.9%).Transient hyperglycemia, hypertension, infection and diabetes mel­litus were the commonest early complications of renal transplantation. The incidence of complications is comparable to the average reported in the literature, especially in this region of the world.

The objective of this study was to classify renal biopsies of all female patients diagnosed to have systemic lupus erythematosus at the College of Medicine, King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia over a period of four years between 19th January 2002 and 30th April 2006. Lupus nephritis was classified according to the modified WHO classification. The immunofluorescence pattern was also studied. All the study patients were examined, investigated, treated and followed-up in our center. We observed that class IV lupus nephritis was the most commonly seen lesion and IgG showed strong positivity in most of the cases. We believe that a more elaborate study is needed to explain the relatively high female to male ratio noticed in our study.

The aging process results in profound anatomic and functional changes in a number of human body systems. Changes in kidney function with normal aging are the most dramatic of any human organ or organ system. These include anatomical, physiological, hemodynamic and immunological changes. Increased propensities of systemic diseases and exposure to poly-pharmacy of the aged group have an additive deleterious effect. The aforementioned changes have its implications on clinical presentations, management and prognosis of all renal diseases in elderly. Atypical presentation, more frequent and longer course are the characteristics of acute renal failure in this age group. Also, presentation of glomerular diseases, clinical course, prognosis, decision of performing a renal biopsy and use of immunosuppressive drugs in elderly specially those subgroup above 80 years of age are still a big challenges that needs a consensus and standardization.

Every year, thousands and thousands of people from Asia, most of them PhDs, make the ultimate transition in their lives when they travel to the west to take up fellowship positions (in this case a research fellowship position) in leading labs in North America and Europe. Many of these people travel with their families, not knowing what is coming their way. In this article, a number of issues have been discussed that might help these potential scientists of the future to plan ahead for such a shift and make their transition as smooth as possible.