[Covid-19 pandemy has emerged from Wuhan, China in December 2019. The infection affects not only the lung but other organs such as the kidney, as well. The relation between Covid-19 infection and the kidney is bidirectional. On one hand, Covid-19 infection may cause kidney damage in 50-75% of the cases resulting in proteinuria, haematuria and acute kidney injury (AKI). The etiology of AKI is multifactorial. Main pathogenic mechanisms are direct proximal tubular cell damage, sepsis-related haemodinamic derangement, citokine storm and hypercoagulability. The virus enters proximal tubular cells and podocytes via the ACE2 receptor followed by multiplication in the lysomes and consequential cell lesion. Histopathology shows acute tubular necrosis and acute tubulointerstitial nephritis. AKI is a strong predictor of mortality in critically ill patients. On the other hand, the risk of Covid-19 infection and mortality is substantially increased in patients with chronic kidney disease – especially in those with a kidney transplant or on dialysis – due to their immunocompromised status. Among haemodialysis patients, infection may spread very easily due to the possibility of getting contacted in the ambulance car or at the dialysis unit. The mortality rate of patients on renal replacement therapy with Covid-19 infection is 20-35%. In order to avoid mass infection it is obligatory to employ preventive measures and implement restricions along with (cohors) isolation of infected patients. In Hungary, every dialysis or kidney transplant patient with Covid-19 infection should be admitted to dedicated Covid-19 wards.]

[Because of the economic crisis affecting the health care system, the Hungarian government have envisaged a number of measures. In Hungary, the system of reference support or fixing is an excellent cost-saving tool in the financing of drugs that have a similar mechanism of effect or contain the same molecule. However, in case of certain patient groups and of “critical drugs”, it is to be feared that an inadequate agent might actually bring loss rather than benefit. In this paper, we would like to draw attention to the fact that switching the original microemulsion cyclosporin to generic, no-microemulsion preparations might pose a direct risk for the safety of the transplanted organ and the transplanted patient.]

[Background: Cardiovascular (CV) diseases are the leading cause of death among renal transplant patients (TX). Ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) has been suggested to individually predict the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between traditional and nontraditional risk factors and AASI in renal transplant children. Patients and methods: In our cross-sectional study, 35 TX patients (15.6±4.3 years of age) were investigated with 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and AASI was defined. Anthropometric data, metabolic parameters and body composition values were also assessed. Results: By univariate regression analysis, BMI, volume excess, systolic blood pressure SD score, mean pulse pressure, diastolic diurnal index, nocturnal diastolic blood pressure fall, and the presence of hypertension showed positive correlation with AASI (respectively r=0.53, 0.39, 0.34, 0.33, 0.41, –0.42; p<0.05). Hypertensive patients had higher AASI values (0.47±0.13 vs. 0.36±0.18; p=0.04), which may be due to the longer duration of dialysis and longer time since transplantation (p<0.05). BMI SDS and nocturnal diastolic blood pressure fall remained to be the main predictors of AASI in the whole (R2=0.44, SE=0.14, β=0.34 and –0.30, p=0.03) and in the hypertensive group (R2=0.48, SE=0.10, β=0.47 and –0.41, p=0.01 and 0.02). Conclusion: Early transplantation then the early treatment of obesity and hypertension may be essential in the prevention of target organ damage and CV mortality in children after kidney TX.]

[The authors show the data of Hungarian dialysis statistics from 2003 to 2009. The questionnaire-based data collection was made by the Dialysis Committee of the Hungarian Society of Nephrology. The number of all patients entered in the dialysis program increased by 45.2% over six years (an average of 7.5% per year) and the number of new ones increased by 51.2% (8.5% per year). The increase in number of patients treated with haemodialysis was 39% (6.5% per year) in this period. The increase in the number of patients in the peritoneal dialysis program was extremely high: 80.6% (an average of 13.4% per year). The population incidence of new dialysed patients was 332/1 million in 2003 and 483/1 million in 2009. The population point prevalence at the end of the year was 437/1 million in 2003, but 607/1 million in 2009. The penetrance of peritoneal dialysis was 12.8% in 2009. Differences exist among the regions of Hungary in the number of patients, the penetrance of peritoneal dialysis and the prevalence of renal replacement therapies. Among patients suffering in conditions which lead to end stage renal disease the proportion of patients with diabetic or hypertensive nephropathies is increasing and the proprtion of patients with glomerular or tubulointerstitial damage is decreasing. The number (and rate) of the elderly people is growing continuously year by year. The rate of patients on waiting list for renal transplantation is decreasing (the rate was 20% in 2003, but only 10.7% in 2009). There is also a slow decrease in the number of the annual renal transplantations. The mortality rate of chronically dialysed patients shows a little increase. Five dialysis centres for paediatric patients and 58 for adults have been functioning in Hungary by the end of 2009. In average 106 patients have been treated by each Hungarian dialysis centre in contrast to the optimal of 60 persons. The number of nephrologists increased between 2003 and 2007, but slightly decreased since then. The case is similar regarding nephrological nurses.]

[Background: Treatment decisions made by patients with chronic kidney disease are crucial in the renal transplantation process. These decisions are influenced, amongst other factors, by attitudes towards different treatment options, which are modulated by knowledge and perceptions about the disease and its treatment and many other subjective factors. Here we study the attitude of dialysis patients to renal transplantation and the association of sociodemographic characteristics, patient perceptions, experiences with this attitude. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, all patients from eight dialysis units in Budapest, Hungary, who were on hemodialysis for at least three months were approached to complete a self-administered questionnaire. Data collected from 459 patients younger than 70 years were analyzed in this manuscript. Results: Mean age of the study population was 53±12 years, 54% was male, the prevalence of diabetes was 22%. Patients with positive attitude to renal transplantation were younger (51±11 vs. 58±11 years), better educated, more likely to be employed (11% vs. 4%) and had prior transplantation (15% vs. 7%) (p<0.05 for all). In a multivariate model negative patient perceptions about transplantation, negative expectations about health outcomes after transplantation, presence of fears about the transplant surgery were associated, in addition to increasing age, with unwillingness to consider transplantation. Conclusions: Negative attitudes to renal transplantation are associated with potentially modifiable factors. It would be necessary to develop standardized, comprehensible patient information systems and personalized decision support in order to facilitate modality selection and to enable patients to make fully informed treatment decisions.]