About the Department of Nephrology at Charite University Hospital Berlin

The Department of Nephrology at the Charite University Hospital Berlin provides the widest range of medical services in its specialty. The main focus of the department is the treatment of patients with kidney diseases and arterial hypertension. The department's team of doctors also provides intensive care for kidney diseases and critical conditions associated with kidney lesions. In addition, the specialists of the medical facility provide services in preparation for kidney transplant surgery and comprehensive care after this surgical procedure. The department houses a highly specialized Center for Rare Kidney Diseases (CeRKiD), whose physicians have extensive experience in the treatment of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, C3 glomerulopathy, C3 glomerulonephritis, Alport syndrome, and other rare nephrological pathologies. The pride of the department is the modern Dialysis Unit, which offers all types of renal replacement therapy available in modern medicine: hemodialysis, hemofiltration, hemodiafiltration, peritoneal dialysis, plasmapheresis, and others. Patients are treated by highly competent physicians with many years of clinical experience, for whom the patient and his individual needs always come first. The Head Physician of the department is Prof. Dr. med. Kai-Uwe Eckardt.

The department's primary specialty is the treatment of acute and chronic kidney failure. Acute kidney failure is a sudden disruption of the filtration, secretory, and excretory functions of the kidney. In the case of chronic kidney failure, the doctors are faced with the task of finding out the cause of the development of the pathological condition, since it is usually a complication of another disease, for example, sepsis, glomerulonephritis, heart failure, urinary tract obstruction due to urolithiasis, etc. When choosing treatment tactics, the department's doctors are guided by the cause of the development of the pathology and its severity. Patients in critical condition are indicated for treatment in the intensive care unit. Many cases of the disease require dialysis, renal replacement therapy. In the presence of mechanical obstruction of urine outflow, surgical treatment is the option of choice.

The decline in kidney function in chronic kidney failure is gradual and can last from several months to several years. Because this is an irreversible decline in kidney function, timely medical attention is critical to the success of treatment. When developing a treatment plan, doctors first determine the cause of chronic kidney failure in order to direct therapy to treat the underlying kidney disease. In most cases, the goal is to improve kidney function, but in advanced stages, the focus is on preserving the remaining function of the organ. The first line of treatment is drug therapy, the second is renal replacement therapy, and the third is kidney transplantation.

The department is one of the most competent medical facilities in Germany for the treatment of rare and genetically determined kidney diseases. It houses a highly specialized center (CeRKiD), whose specialists treat atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, C3 glomerulopathy, C3 glomerulonephritis, Alport syndrome, autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease, von Hippel-Lindau disease, Fabry disease, tuberous sclerosis, distal renal tubular acidosis, and other conditions. The physicians of the department have the necessary knowledge, professional skills, and resources for the effective treatment of patients with the above-mentioned nephrological diseases.

The major clinical focuses of the department include the following:

• Diagnostics and treatment of acute and chronic kidney failure
• Diagnostics and treatment of glomerulonephritis
• Diagnostics and treatment of electrolyte imbalance
• Diagnostics and treatment of diabetic nephropathy
• Diagnostics and treatment of polycystic kidney disease
• Diagnostics and treatment of rare kidney diseases
  • Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome
  • C3 glomerulopathy
  • C3 glomerulonephritis
  • Alport syndrome
  • Autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease
  • Von Hippel-Lindau disease
  • Fabry disease
  • Tuberous sclerosis
  • Distal renal tubular acidosis
• Diagnostics and treatment of systemic diseases with kidney lesions
  • Vasculitis
  • Autoimmune diseases: systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic scleroderma
  • Infectious diseases: hepatitis viruses, HIV
  • Oncopathology: tumor lysis syndrome, multiple myeloma, renal cell carcinoma
  • Sarcoidosis
  • Diabetes mellitus
  • Arterial hypertension
  • Hepatorenal syndrome
  • Cardiorenal syndrome
• Diagnostics and treatment of arterial hypertension
• Diagnostics and treatment of other kidney diseases

The range of therapeutic services offered by the department includes the following:

• Drug therapy
• Renal replacement therapy (dialysis)
  • Hemodialysis
  • Peritoneal dialysis
  • Hemofiltration
  • Hemodiafiltration
  • Ultrafiltration
  • Plasmapheresis
  • Immunoadsorption
  • Bilirubin adsorption
  • Lipid apheresis
• Intensive care
• Comprehensive care before and after kidney transplant
• Other medical services