Nephrology in Germany
Departments and clinics of nephrology, rheumatology, hypertension and immune diseases specialise in the treatment of chronic renal failure, glomerular and interstitial kidney disease, as well as in nutritional therapy for kidney conditions. The treatment of difficult-to-control hypertension, which may be caused by the kidneys, is also part of the therapeutic services offered by nephrology clinics.
The main centre for the treatment of patients with nephrological, rheumatological and immune diseases is the Department of Nephrology, Rheumatology, Hypertension and Immune Diseases at Aachen University Hospital, one of the three certified kidney transplant centres in Germany. The department is at the same time a certified hypertension centre. In an audit of the department’s work, a special commission of the German Society of Nephrology — which looks first and foremost at the cooperation between the nephrologists and surgeons of the Aachen University Hospital complex, covering the preparatory stage for kidney transplantation, the transplant itself and post-operative follow-up of patients — rated this cooperation as exemplary. Each year the number of patients treated in the department with a diagnosis of renal failure reaches 1,500. At present, 150 people are on the «waiting list» for a kidney transplant. Over the past few years the hospital has performed 78 kidney transplant operations, 24 of them from living donors.
Each year the department treats 12,000 patients, both those with controlled hypertension and those with rare, secondary forms of hypertension, as well as patients with renal failure.
The Department of Nephrology, Rheumatology, Hypertension and Immune Diseases at Aachen University Hospital also offers additional diagnostics and treatment for haematuria, albuminuria and proteinuria. Urolithiasis is treated in close interdisciplinary cooperation with urology experts.
This department also deals with pregnancy complications associated with impaired kidney function or hypertension, as well as with the treatment of conditions such as glomerulonephritis and interstitial nephritis, which are investigated by kidney biopsy under ultrasound or CT guidance, and with hereditary glomerulonephritis, rheumatic disorders, vasculitis, Wegener’s disease and Goodpasture syndrome.
Disorders of fluid, electrolyte and acid-base balance, which can take complex forms, are also part of the department’s range of medical services.
A particularly important role in the work of the Department of Nephrology, Rheumatology, Hypertension and Immune Diseases is played by dialysis, the so-called «artificial kidney», covering all methods of haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis (abdominal dialysis), as well as continuous haemofiltration, plasmapheresis, rheopheresis and immunoadsorption.
