A Short Glossary for a Better Communication between General Practitioners and Nephrologists

Abstract

End stage renal disease (ESRD) is a chronic disease with a progressively increasing burden. To date, about 3-million people with ESRD in Italy can be classified with stage 3/5 K-DOQI, but less than 30% of patients with stage 4-5 refer to nephrology outpatient clinics. Despite such evidence, the current knowledge on disease burden and, therefore, on the need to manage and possibly prevent complications is rather limited. General practitioners (GPs) and nephrologists often experience difficulties to communicate and cooperate concerning the appropriate duration of the nephropathic patients’ follow-up. As a consequence, delayed diagnoses and increased risk of life-threatening complications are often observed. Indeed, since ESRD is also a marker of concurrent cardiovascular disease, renal function or urinalysis abnormalities could suggest underlying cardiac diseases including ischemic cardiac disease. Therefore, we created a glossary for GPs that includes information on both the diagnostic and the follow-up approach for nephropathic patients. We believe that this tool should allow identifying early metabolic abnormalities and optimizing the duration and management of the longitudinal follow-up.