Six Interactive Workshops Offered

Sunday, April 7

Workshops will be offered at 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM & 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM. Attendees may choose two workshops to attend.

1. Kidney Pathology Workshop

Taught onsite at Arkana Laboratories, this will be an interactive workshop using multihead microscopes.  Pathologists from Arkana Laboratories will present and discuss cases. 

This workshop will be led by Drs. Shree Sharma, Alejandro Best, and Nicholas Cossey, all with Arkana Laboratories in Little Rock, AR.

2. Home Dialysis

In 2019, an executive order related to kidney disease was signed to reduce how many Americans get dialysis treatment at dialysis centers. The goal is to get to 80% of those who are under treatment either in home dialysis or transplanted eventually. ESRD patients are among the most vulnerable population due to multiple chronic conditions and comorbidities, and they have had the highest hospitalization rates due to COVID-19 among Medicare beneficiaries. The risk of hospitalization and complications highlight the importance that this population stay at home during the public health emergency to reduce risk of exposure to the virus. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized policies in November, 2020 that allow certain new and innovative equipment and supplies to encourage home dialysis treatment.

Attendees of this workshop will learn how to: 1) help patients select between home hemodialysis and home peritoneal dialysis modalities; 2) assess patient eligibility; 3) identify qualifying patients and order the in-home treatment; 4) help patients locate available CMS resources; and, 5) assess the benefits of home dialysis on their patients.

The course will be taught by Drs. Manisha Singh with UAMS, Osama El Shamy with Vanderbilt, Ankur Shah with Brown University, Mala Sachdeva with Northwell Health, and Christin Giordano McAuliffe with St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital.

3. Microscopic Examination of the Urinary Sediment (UroSedi Academy)

Performance of microscopic examination of the urinary sediment (MicrExUrSed) is a diagnostic laboratory tool with proven clinical utility; however, hospital laboratories using automated platforms routinely fail to report the breadth of MicrExUrSed findings that offer diagnostic and prognostic information. Thus, practicing nephrologists have to become familiar and proficient at independently performing and interpreting MicrExUrSed.

The objectives of the UroSedi Academy are 1) to review the apparatus, procedure and technique to correctly collect, process and inspect urinary sediment specimens by microscopy, and 2) to recognize and interpret findings of urinary sediment microscopy in the context of acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease and nephritic or nephrotic syndrome.

The course is taught by Drs. Jay Seltzer with Missouri Baptist Medical Center and Juan Carlos Velez and Swetha Kanduri, both with the Ochsner Clinic.

4. Acid/Base Fluids and Electrolytes Workshop

Joel Topf, 2017 recipient of the ASN Robert Narins award and author of The Fluid, Electrolyte And Acid-base Companion will lead a half-day workshop focused on diagnosis and treatment of acid/base and electrolyte disorders. Participants will go through cases and learn fundamental skills (and advanced skills) that will solidify and push their current knowledge base for evaluation and management of acid base disturbances and electrolyte derangements. This is a hands-on course focused on hands-on learning.

This course will be taught by Drs. Joel Topf (@kidney_boy) of St. Clair Nephrology in Detroit and Anna Gaddy with the University of Wisconsin.

5. Kidney Biopsy Academy (KBA)

Proficiency in percutaneous kidney biopsy is required for accreditation in nephrology. Medical practice trends have diminished the interest and exposure of nephrology fellows to kidney biopsies. Approximately 14% of renal biopsies are inadequate for diagnostic purposes because of technical reasons related to the biopsy. The goal of this course is to provide training in percutaneous renal biopsies to residents, fellows, and practicing physicians.

The hands-on KBA workshop utilizes:

1. Kidney ultrasound simulation using SonoSim® Ultrasound Training

2. Real time ultrasound of kidneys in simulated, live human subjects

3. Kidney anatomy with plasticine-embedded torso sections from human cadavers

4. Kidney anatomy with dissected cadavers

5. US-based PKB simulation with mannequin (Blue Phantom™)

6. US-based renal biopsy in lightly-embalmed cadavers

7. Tissue retrieval adequacy examination by microscope and smartphone camera.

Results from the 2016 workshop were presented as an abstract, "An Integrated Pathology and Ultrasonography-Based Simulation Is an Effective Educational Tool for the Performance of a Kidney Biopsy" during an oral presentation at the 2016 ASN meeting. 

The KBA is directed by Drs. Vandana Niyyar from Emory University, Juan Carlos Velez from Ochsner Clinic, Shree Sharma from Arkana Laboratories, and Tiffany Huitt from UAMS. 

6. Living Donor Kidney Transplant

Teaches Processes for increasing living donor transplants including finding donors, paired exchanges, and the National Kidney Registry.

This workshop will be taught by Drs. Tiffany Caza of Arkana Laboratories, Aparna Sharma of UAMS, Nina Martinez of Jefferson Health, Olivia Pruitt of Piedmont Atlanta Hospital, and Anna Gaddy of the University of Wisconsin.