KIDNEY NEWS NOW
We post the most recent news about Kidney Disease, Dialysis and Treatment.
- Acetazolamide in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure With Volume Overload
Dr. Chadwick Clinical question: Does the addition of acetazolamide to standardized loop diuretic therapy achieve more effective decongestion compared to loop diuretics alone in acute decompensated heart failure? Background: Decompensated heart failure is a leading cause of hospitalization in the U.S. Intravenous (IV) loop diuretics remain the cornerstone of treatment for acute heart failure. Although combination diuretic therapy has been suggested to be more effective than loop diuretics alone, there has previously been… ... read more - CT for Evaluation of Acute Abdominal Pain is Less Accurate Without Contrast
Dr. Gordon Clinical question: How does the addition of contrast to a CT abdomen and pelvis ordered to evaluate abdominal pain in an emergency department (ED) setting impact diagnostic accuracy? Background: Although contrast-enhanced CT has historically been the imaging of choice to evaluate abdominal pain in the acute setting, concerns about complications from contrast use (e.g., risk of contrast-induced acute kidney injury) and contrast shortages can result in these scans being ordered without… ... read more - Street Medicine on the Floors: A Promising Inpatient Model
Persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) can be some of the most complex patients on hospitalists’ services. Chronic conditions such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes are inadequately controlled in this population.1,2 Similarly, high rates of cancer, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and geriatric syndromes, such as functional impairment, frailty, and depression, have been described.3,4,5,6 Lastly, homelessness is associated with high rates of acute-care utilization and hospital readmission and is an independent risk factor for mortality.7,8,9,10… ... read more - Empathy for the Rural Hospitalist
In residency, we had derisive nicknames for the hospitals in the surrounding rural areas that would frequently send us patients. After we were notified of the transfer, we stayed on edge until the patient arrived, unclear of what was going to show up. At best they were sending us a difficult patient who was going to require a great deal of work; occasionally, as we paged through the photocopied progress notes and labs, we… ... read more