Background
Brian Rifkin
Why Can’t I Quit You: Steroid Tapering in ...

This week, we will discuss the best schedule for tapering steroids in adult patients with podocytopathies (MCD/FSGS).

Why Can’t I Quit You: Steroid Tapering in Adults with Podocytopathies (START)
Meta
joel topf
NephJC 2026 Fall Pledge Drive

Help keep NephJC a vital, original, and unbiased source of medical education.

NephJC 2026 Fall Pledge Drive
Background
Brian Rifkin
REFINe-ing AI’s Role in Nephrology Diagnosis

This week, we will discuss the use of LLMs for the diagnosis of complex nephrology cases. Can AI help nephrologists nail the correct diagnosis?

REFINe-ing AI’s Role in Nephrology Diagnosis
Background
Akshaya J
Too sweet to be true? Prophylactic SGLT2 ...

MERCURI-2 reports that dapagliflozin cuts postoperative AKI after cardiac surgery, but the headline result is mostly a urine-output story, not a creatinine one. That matters: urine output after surgery is easily swayed by anesthesia, fluid shifts, vasopressors, and a diuretic drug in the mix. Until dapagliflozin shows it protects kidney function, not just urine output.

Too sweet to be true? Prophylactic SGLT2 inhibitors before cardiac surgery
Background
Cristina Adriana Popa
Buffering without benefit? The SODa-BIC study

This week, we will discuss SODaBIC trial: with ICU acidosis driven by multiple overlapping mechanisms, is bicarbonate infusion supported by robust evidence, or does it persist mainly out of habit rather than physiology?

Buffering without benefit? The SODa-BIC study

Creatinine to Cystatin C: Time to Change?

Creatinine to Cystatin C: Time to Change?

This week, we will discuss a paper from Nature Medicine. Cystatin C has been around for a while, but not taken off in routine practice. Is it time for it to do so? In this study, authors from Glasgow using the UKBiobank data show that cystatin C improves the prediction of bad outcomes.

Can difelikefalin scratch uremic pruritus?

Can difelikefalin scratch uremic pruritus?

This week we will be discussing the KALM-1 trial which was presented at the Late Breaking and High Impact Trial Session at the recently completed #KidneyWk. It was simultaneously published in the NEJM. Kalm-1 investigated whether difelikefalin, a opioid kappa agonist, decreased uremic pruritus.

Patiromer, spironolactone and resistant hypertension.

Patiromer, spironolactone and resistant hypertension.

The new generation of potassium binders bind potassium but can they improve patient outcomes? These second order questions are starting to be answered. Join us this week to discuss the use of patiromer and spironolactone in patients with resistant hypertension.The AMBER Study