After the great success of the fIrst issue of the series, the International Yearbook of Nephrology 1989, we were encouraged to proceed in our editorial venture to update nephrologists yearly, on all rapidly-changing areas of nephrology. Thus we have chosen new topics and appointed experts in the fIeld, asking them to give an objective review of the topic, up-dating the readers on the world-wide literature and providing them with a complete, accurate and up-to-date list of important, recent references. We have decided to maintain the successful format of the International Yearbook of...

The need for adequate means by which to improve urine output is very old. Even in the "Scuola Salernitana," the oldest medieval medical school in Western Europe, about 1000 years ago it was taught how to improve urine output. The list of known "diuretica" included herbs, plants, roots, vegetables, in particular asparagus, fennel and carrot. The first diuretic drugs, however, were mercurial compounds. Thus, calomel, mercurous chloride, was initially used as a diuretic in the sixteenth century by Paracelsus, being one of the ingredients of the so-called "Guy's Hospital pill." But calomel had a...

The aim of the INTERNATIONAL YEARBOOKS OF NEPHROLOGY is to publish every year a volume to keep nephrologists up to date on all the rapidly changing areas of nephrology. Each volume will be published by the end of each calendar year which corresponds with the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology. Each issue of the INTERNATIONAL YEARBOOKS OF NEPHROLOGY will be divided into sections; each section will have different primary focus every year, depending upon what area is of greatest interest at the time. In other words, each annual volume will deal with what is truly current in...

The behavior of the kidney in normal pregnancy, as well as in complicated pregnancy, is a very interesting, but still in many ways an unknown topic in renal medicine. It is undoubtedly difficult to determine, even in normal women, the behavior of renal hemodynamics throughout gestation, since the fear of impairing a new life (i.e., the fetus's life) will limit, for ethical reasons, the use or the frequent repetition of diagnostic tests on the mother. On the other hand, the study of complicated pregnancy even for diagnostic purposes (for planning adequate treatment), except in a few countries...

The 1991 International Yearbook of Nephrology is the third in a sueeessful .eries whieh has, as its principal aim, thc presentation of a eomprehensive list of topfes of the greatest current relevanee to elinieal nephrologists. We believe that, by following the subjeets eovered by the Yearbook in the broad field of nephrology, the praetieing nephrologist and nephrologist-in-training ean stay abreast of a number of rapidly advaneing fields. To improve the quality of the Yearbook, we have appointed an Editorial Board to provfde suggestions for topies and authors. Thus, we have invited 58...

When the external Quinton-Scribner arteriovenous shunt was developed in 1960, and, a little later, the internal Brescia-Cimino arteriovenous fistula was developed as a vascular access for hemodialysis, thereby making possible regular dialysis therapy of chronic uremic patients, many nephrologists became surgeons, having learned the type of vascular surgery related to hemodialysis quite well. The same series of events occurred with regards to peritoneal dialysis with the introduction of the Tenckhoff catheter and the need for gaining a permanent access to the peritoneum for chronic ambulatory...

The 1992 International Yearbook of Nephrology is the 4th in a successful series of yearly books updating practising nephrologists and nephrologists-in-training on rapidly changing areas of nephrology. We were encouraged to proceed in our editorial venture by reviews of the previous issues which have appeared in various Nephrology Journals. These reviews have pointed to the successful use of the International Editorial Board, the broad range of topics of current interest which have been covered and the comprehensive and practical nature of the reviews. The principal aim of the Yearbook remains...

Nephrology, initially born as a small branch of medicine, has, in the last few decades, become an extraordinary large field of medicine. The recent development of renal medicine is mirrored by the numerous nephrological journals published, a natural consequence of the increasing number of basic and clinical research studies performed continuously all over the world. Undoubtedly the progress which has occurred in the different, specific fields of renal medicine has given rise to subspecialities which range from renal physiology and pathology to hemo- and peritoneal dialysis and renal...

This book includes the proceedings of the 2nd International Meeting on Cur rent Therapy in Nephrology held in Sorrento, Italy, May 22-25, 1988. The book provides a comprehensive update on new therapeutic strategies in the broad field of Nephrology. The reader will receive information on advances in treatment of glomerulonephritis, new dialysis techniques and progress in renal transplantation. In addition, sections deal with provocative experimental ap proaches to treating renal disease. Topics include: cyclosporine in treatment of nephrotic syndrome, plasma ex change in ARF, treatment of...