No abstract

We describe a patient with idiopathic membranous glomerulopathy who developed acute deterioration in renal function; this was associated with hemoptysis, severe hypertension, and anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibody in the serum. Despite aggressive therapy with plasmapheresis, cyclophosphamide and prednisone, the patient progressed to end-stage renal failure and is on maintenance hemodialysis.

No abstract

Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and theophylline have been reported to decrease the elevated hemoglobin (Hgb) and hematocrit (Hct) levels in the renal transplant recipients with erythrocytosis. We conducted a prospective randomized, open labeled, crossover trial with theophylline, and an ACEI, fosinopril in nine stable renal transplant recipients with erythrocytosis. Aim of the study was to determine and compare the efficacy of these medications in stable renal transplant patients. At three months, compared to baseline, fosinopril significantly reduced the elevated hemoglobin (Hgb 17.2 +/- 0.6 vs. 14.9 +/- 1.4 gm/dL, p = 0.0023), and hematocrit levels (Hct 51.3 +/- 2.4 vs. 43.7 +/- 4.6%, p = 0.003). In contrast theophylline therapy was associated with a non-significant rise in hemoglobin (17.4 +/- 0.7 vs. 18.1 +/- 0.9gm/dL, p > 0.05) and hematocrit (52.4 +/- 2.7 vs. 54.7 +/- 3.9%, p > 0.05). With fosinopril compared to theophylline, there was a significant difference in the change in hemoglobin (baseline to three months 2.8 +/- 1.7 vs. -0.7 +/- 0.69 gm/dL respectively, p = 0.017), and the change in hematocrit (baseline to three months 9 +/- 6 vs. -2.3 +/- 2.7% respectively, p = 0.027). Four patients (44.4%) did not tolerate theophylline and did not complete the theophylline arm. To conclude, in our study, fosinopril effectively decreased the elevated hemoglobin and hematocrit in patients with post transplant erythrocytosis, and was superior to theophylline, while theophylline was ineffective and poorly tolerated in this condition.

No abstract

We measured total serum creatine kinase (CK) and serum creatine kinase MB fraction (CK-MB) in 53 patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and 52 patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD), using Scalva UV methodology for CK and electrophoresis for CK-MB. Seven of the 53 CAPD patients (13%) had an elevated total CK, and only one of these 7 patients had an elevated CK-MB greater than 5%. In contrast 22 HD patients (42%) had increased total CK values, and 6 of these 22 HD patients (27%) showed elevated CK-MB isoenzyme greater than 5%. For each sex, blacks had higher mean CK values than whites. Twenty-one out of the 43 HD patients who received intramuscular injections had elevated total CK values and 6 of these 21 patients had elevated CK-MB isoenzyme independent of the timing of injection. The increased frequency of higher total CK values in HD patients appears to be related to race and androgen administration. The modest elevations in CK-MB fraction (5 to 8%) in these patients require careful interpretation.

No abstract

No abstract