Giornale italiano di nefrologia : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di nefrologia
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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication in hospitalized patients often associated with multiple organ failure, increased mortality and progression toward chronic kidney disease. The identification of new cellular and molecular targets involved in AKI may lead to an improvement of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. In recent years, the pathogenetic mechanisms of AKI have been fully elucidated: tubular epithelial cells and endothelial cells present in the microvasculature have been identified as the main targets of ischemia and of nephrotoxic drugs. ⋯ Recent studies evidenced new molecules as early biomarkers of AKI. Among these molecules, NGAL and KIM-1 play a possible role in the progression toward chronic kidney disease. Lastly, the new frontier of AKI therapy is represented by the use of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells able to induce a regenerative program in the damaged kidney.
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At present, ultrasonography (US) is not able to define the type of renal damage and therefore cannot replace percutaneous renal biopsy in the diagnosis of acute kidney disease. It is, however, the most immediate and safest imaging technique for the evaluation of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) in order to exclude urinary tract obstruction or chronic kidney disease and guide clinical decision-making. In prerenal AKI caused by cardiorenal syndrome type 1, US does not show specific signs. ⋯ The resistance index (RI) is a very useful marker to establish the severity of ATN and the required follow-up, and to evaluate functional recovery, since its reduction precedes the normalization of serum creatinine. US is the technique of choice in the diagnosis of obstructive nephropathy, where it is highly sensitive (>95%) but less specific (<70%). The primary objective of this review is to analyze the applications of US in the diagnosis of prerenal, renal and postrenal AKI.
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The clinical syndromes known as sepsis and septic shock are a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units. Acute kidney injury (AKI) according to the modern RIFLE criteria complicates sepsis and increases the mortality; it often requires the implementation of methods for extracorporeal blood purification and patient support. During sepsis AKI is an independent risk factor for mortality and increases the complexity and cost of patient care. ⋯ These treatments can be combined to obtain other treatments to remove more specifically inflammatory molecules such as during convection combined with plasma adsorption in CPFA. Moreover, the use of high-cutoff membranes allows the implementation of methods able to remove high-molecular-weight mediators of inflammation by diffusion. Given the wide range of available treatments, there is ongoing discussion about the timing, dose and efficacy of each, and more studies are necessary to clarify their role in the management of AKI during sepsis.