Acute Kidney Injury and Renal Replacement Therapy: ADOPPS Wanted!

With this issue, Blood Purification will begin a series of editorials from the Editor in Chief dedicated to hot topics and areas of research where advances and new ideas are needed. This coincides with the birth of ‘Cappuccino with Claudio Ronco’, a club of Blood Purification that in a short YouTube clip will discuss a paper published in this journal and hopefully stimulate interest and new ideas especially in the younger generation of readers and investigators. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is becoming a major dilemma for healthcare systems not only because of the high cost in terms of healthcare resources required to deal with it, but also because evidence is growing that AKI may have a significant impact on long-term outcomes. With regard to CKD, AKI is associated not only with the development of de novo disease, but also with the worsening of preexisting disease – both these phenomena may lead to ESRD. ESRD (i.e., dialysis dependence) and progression and worsening of CKD represent two of the most important aspects to consider. Furthermore, the presence of AKI and the requirement of renal replacement therapy (both short- and long-term) represent clear risk factors for mortality and increased healthcare expenditure. Under these circumstances, it seems logical to issue a ‘call to action’ to align all scientific, academic, and clinical efforts designed to improve the outcomes of AKI patients. An important aspect here is to partner with healthcare providers, governments, and important stakeholders in