The dynamic realm of kidney innovations presented at the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2023 is characterized by noteworthy advancements and remarkable achievements in the field of nephrology.
Dr. Monnie Wasse, the Nephrology Guru from Rush College, spilled the beans on the latest vascular and venous access breakthroughs. We're talking about grafts, fistulas, and high-tech devices to keep those veins wide open for dialysis patients.
Ever heard of the STARgraft AV Unite? It's like a high-tech sleeve for your veins, with a special design that encourages blood flow, fights off fibrosis, and keeps infections at bay. They tested it on 73 STARgrafts against 27 regular grafts, and you know what? The STARgrafts ruled the game.
There's a totally organic acellular vascular channel called the Genuine AVC. It's like a superhero cape for your veins, with bursting strength over 3000 mm Hg. No infections or aneurysms here, and patency rates are through the roof. Talk about a win-win.
Wasse didn't stop there; she talked about percutaneous/endovascular AVFs, a fancy way to save upper arm vessels for future use. The Ellipsys is like the James Bond of AVFs, with a 90% patency rate at 2 years. Second-generation pAVFs like the Speed gadget by Venova are designed to keep the blood flowing smoothly. No more traffic jams in your veins.
Wasse even mentioned wearable patches that monitor potassium levels, hemoglobin, and more. It's like having a mini-lab on your arm. Data gets beamed to a patient portal for the doctors. How cool is that?
And let's not forget drug-coated balloons (DCB). These balloons are like magic wands for AVF stenosis. They're coated with paclitaxel, a real AVF superhero. It blocks smooth muscle growth, lasts for months, and increases patency rates by more than 20%. Who needs standard balloons when you have these bad boys?
The SAVE-US trial also made an appearance, showing off the surfacer back to front access catheter system. It's like a GPS for your veins, and it's super effective. No adverse events here, just smooth sailing for patients.
Now, let's shift gears to Dr. Jonathan Himmelfarb, the mastermind behind the "kidney on a chip." Just imagine putting human organs on computer chips instead of testing on animals. This isn't science fiction; it's real.
They created a bioengineered human kidney model on a chip. It's like having a mini kidney in a lab. They even tackled polycystic kidney disease (PKD) using live cells from urine samples. It's like turning pee into a superhero organoid. This breakthrough allowed them to study disease progression, something that was impossible before.
But the kidney on a chip isn't just about PKD. They modeled Coronavirus infection of the kidney. It's like a microscope for diseases. This kind of modeling can help us understand the long-term effects of diseases like Covid on our organs.
Dr. Himmelfarb wrapped it up by saying, "Let's use these systems to study the effects of aging on kidney function and improve drug dosing for patients." It's like a roadmap for the future of medicine.