New Treatments For FSGS -ASN Conference

Idiopathic focal and segmental glomerular sclerosis or FSGS is one of the most common causes of non diabetic kidney disease in the world and also one of the least satisfying to treat due to the difficulty with initiating and maintaining a durable remission. For decades the standard of treatment has been steroid therapy in high doses given either daily or every other day. This results in significant toxicity which includes the development of diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, personality changes, weight gain, easy bruising etc. Yet these negative effects of steroid therapy are outweighed significantly by the result of not treating FSGS as the disease will usually progress to end stage renal disease (with a requirement for dialysis and transplantation). Even after transplantation there is a risk of recurrence of the disease within hours after surgery in some patients. If ever there was a nephropathy in need of new treatment options it would be FSGS. NEW OPTIONS Oral dexamethasone for FSGS Oral dexamethasone was found to be as effective as steroid therapy, not superior however. The side effect profile is very similar. It is unlikely that further studies will change the outlook for dexamethasone as an alternative therapy Rituximab Rituximab in FSGS has had a stormy course with the safety of rituximab as a therapeutic option under scrutiny due to deaths from a rare condition known as plemorphic multifocal leucoencephalopathy. The first cases were seen in patients with lupus trea...
Source: All Kidney News - Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Tags: Kidney News FSGS TNF Source Type: blogs