The COVID‐19 pandemic has had a major impact on kidney transplantation and on patients with end‐stage kidney disease. Transplantation activity has been substantially reduced, and kidney transplant recipients have suffered increased mortality. The introduction of vaccines against SARS‐CoV‐2 has offered considerable hope that it may be possible to protect patients from the risks associated with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, and that more patients may once again have access to kidney transplantation.

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We report a case of severe hypercalcaemia secondary to rhabdomyolysis in a woman with COVID-19 (SARS CoV-2) infection. The patient presented with myalgia and anuria with an acute kidney injury requiring haemodialysis. Creatine kinase peaked at 760 000 IU/L. A biphasic calcaemic response was observed with initial severe hypocalcaemia followed by severe, symptomatic hypercalcaemia, persistent despite haemodialysis. Control of the calcium levels was achieved by continuous haemofiltration.

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Summary Living kidney donors are at risk of long‐term end‐stage renal disease, and obesity is an independent risk factor. In our centre, predonation counselling of obese donors concentrates on lifestyle modifications, particularly weight loss and exercise. Whether these recommendations have a sustainable effect after donation remains unknown. We conducted a retrospective analysis of all donors who proceeded to donation between 2012 and 2016. Donors’ body mass index (BMI) was compared between predefined time points using matched pair analysis. Among 303 donors included, 15% were obese at initial assessment. Obese donors were observed to lose weight by the time of donation (mean BMI difference 1.32 kg/m2, P < 0.001), but bounced back to their initial weight at one‐year postdonation (mean BMI difference + 1.47 kg/m2, P < 0.001), which was maintained at two‐year postdonation. While 71% of obese donors lost weight by the time of donation, 56% of them gained that weight back at one year. Our findings underline the success of predonation counselling on lifestyle modification in highly motivated obese donors, although additional strategies are required to sustain weight loss. The impact of weight gain on long‐term risk needs further evaluation. Living donor programmes should provide continued support with lifestyle modifications after donation.

Background. Genetically determined hypoparathyroidism can lead to life-threatening episodes of hypocalcemia and, more rarely, to end-stage kidney disease at a young age. Parathyroid allotransplantation is the only curative treatment, and in patients already receiving immunosuppression for kidney transplantation, there may be little additional risk involved. We report the first such case in a child. Methods. An 11-y-old girl, known to have hypoparathyroidism secondary to an activating pathogenic variant in the calcium-sensing receptor, developed end-stage kidney disease and was started on intermittent hemodialysis. Since the age of 2.5 y, she had been receiving treatment with exogenous synthetic parathyroid hormone (PTH). In June 2019, at the age of 11.8 y, she received a living-donor kidney and simultaneous parathyroid gland transplant from her father. The kidney was implanted into the right iliac fossa, followed by implantation of the parathyroid gland into the exposed rectus muscle. Results. The kidney graft showed immediate function while the intrinsic serum PTH level remained low at 3 ng/L. Exogenous PTH infusion was reduced on day 6 posttransplantation to stimulate PTH production by the new gland, which resulted in improving intrinsic PTH concentrations of 28 ng/L by day 9. Twelve months after transplantation, PTH levels remain in normal range and the kidney graft function is stable with a serum creatinine of 110 μmol/L. Conclusions. Simultaneous living donation and transplantation of a kidney and a parathyroid gland into a child is safe and feasible and has the potential to cure primary hypoparathyroidism as well as kidney failure.

This chapter outlines the basic science and theory of nephrology required for MRCP Part 1, before addressing the clinical aspects of nephrology for MRCP Part 2. To ensure effective revision, material is presented in short sections with bullet lists, tables and boxes to highlight key facts.