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Pregnancy requires several physiological adaptations from the maternal organism, including modifications in the glomerular filtration rate and renal excretion of several products. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can negatively affect these modifications and consequently is associated with several adverse maternal and fetal adverse outcomes (gestational hypertension, progression of renal disease, pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction, and preterm delivery). A multidisciplinary vigilance of these pregnancies is essential in order to avoid and/or control the harmful effects associated with this pathology. Dialysis and transplantation can decrease the risks of maternal and fetal complications, nonetheless, the rates of complications remain high comparing with a normal pregnancy. Several recent developments in this area have improved quality and efficacy of treatment of pregnant women with CKD. This article summarizes the most recent literature about CKD and pregnancy.

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A 44-year-old woman on CAPD for 20 months presented with severe intraperitoneal bleeding secondary to rupture of the spleen. On the day of the accident displacement of the Tenckhoff catheter to the left upper quadrant of the abdomen was detected by X-ray. We believe this dislodgement caused the rupture either by direct trauma or erosion of the organ. This complication of CAPD has not been described before. There are no previous reports of rupture of an abdominal organ during chronic peritoneal dialysis. However massive intraperitoneal hemorrhage in CAPD has been described secondary to abdominal wall erosion by the Tenckhoff catheter. We believe that rupture of the spleen in the present case was due to trauma and/or erosion induced by a displaced Tenckhoff catheter.

The symptoms of chronic renal disease-related mineral and bone disease improve significantly in patients after successful simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT); however, bone pathology is still present even after many post-transplant years. The aim of this study was to analyze the bone densitometry in different periods after SPKT. Three-point densitometry was performed with the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) technique. Serum levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total serum calcium, phosphate and parathyroid hormone were analyzed as markers of mineral metabolism. The study population consisted of 48 patients (28 females, 20 males) with a mean age of 35 ± 6 years and mean 24 ± 6 years of prior diabetes. Mean period of maintenance dialysis was 36 ± 26 months. The median time from SPKT and DXA measurement was 0.53, 26.2 and 41.9 months, respectively. Based on the DXA technique, 35.4 % of patients were categorized as having osteoporosis at the lumbar spine and 39.6 % at the femoral neck. Patients with diagnosed osteoporosis had significantly higher levels of ALP (OR = 1.5; 95 % CI = 1.1-2.2; p < 0.05 at the lumbar spine; OR = 1.4; 95 % CI = 1.0-1.9; p < 0.05 at the femoral neck). In addition, subjects with lumbar osteoporosis were characterized by a significantly lower body mass index (BMI) (OR = 0.5; 95 % CI = 0.3-0.9; p < 0.05). In the long-term follow-up, BMD increased significantly at the lumbar spine (T-score -1.86 ± 1.07 to -1.08 ± 0.89) and femoral neck (T-score -2.12 ± 0.78 to -1.63 ± 0.65). A multivariate linear model identified a BMI increase as a significant factor associated with improvement in BMD. Results of our study led us to conclude that, according to three-point densitometry, BMD among patients with functioning kidney and pancreas grafts improved. Increased serum levels of ALP were significantly associated with a decrease in BMD, suggesting a higher risk of osteoporosis. BMI gain was predictive of BMD improvement.

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