Our social services department can help answer many of the confusing questions regarding insurance coverage and other issues that affect people with chronic renal failure. Our division is also committed to research and there are numerous areas of investigation that are actively being pursued. Mechanisms driving progressive renal damage are not clearly understood and these are being studied. Cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are very frequent in people with chronic renal insufficiency and the mechanisms driving this risk are poorly understood. Novel methods to assess blood vessel function are showing that small blood vessels in people with renal insufficiency do not work well and this may predispose people with kidney disease to progressive heart disease.
Projects evaluating calcification of blood vessels in the heart are also ongoing.
These studies may help identify and define mechanisms of cardiovascular risk in patients with kidney disease and those that are on dialysis. There are many studies also being pursued in the area of hypertension. Efforts are being made to study the impact of home pressure monitoring on long term control of blood pressure. Atherosclerotic renovascular disease is an important clinical problem in which the appropriate therapy is not well defined. The use of surgery or stenting procedures is being evaluated in regards to long-term outcome.