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...

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 successful series of International Meetings on "Current Therapy in Nephrology" (now known around the world as "Sorrento Meeting") has continued this year with the third meeting of the series, updating on new therapeutic strategies in Nephrology. This time the meeting was held at the Cocumella Hotel of Sorrento, Italy, on May 27-30, 1990, in a wonderful atmosphere, with the participation of outstanding scientists, such as Drs. H. Auchincloss (Boston, USA), E. Bartoli (Udine, Italy), V. Bonomini (Bologna, Italy), M. Broyer (Paris, France), V. Cambi (Parma, Italy), G. Camussi (Naples,...

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 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 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 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...

Acute renal failure is undoubtedly one of the marize in one volume the recent advances on patho most interesting and frequent syndromes observed physiology of acute renal failure, the clinical aspects by clinicians. A great number of factors may of the various forms (even those which have been acutely impair renal function, but the pathoge disregarded in other surveys), the diagnostic tests netic mechanism by which this occurs is fre available today in our clinical practice, the general quently unknown. Even the pathophysiology of and specific therapeutic measures and (very impor ischaemic...

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...