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Blood Pressure is the force exerted by the circulating blood on the walls of the arteries and is established by two measurements:

• Systolic blood pressure (when the heart beats and contracts)
• Diastolic blood pressure (when the heart relaxes between heart beats)

Normal blood pressure =
Systolic < 120 mmHg and Diastolic < 80mmHg

Hypertension is a chronic (long term) condition described as elevated blood pressure with systolic blood pressure greater than 120 mmHg or diastolic pressure greater than 80 mmHg. Left untreated, hypertension can lead to several complications such as kidney damage, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Your kidney specialist provides expert, individualized care to treat hypertension effectively.

Hypertension generally presents with no symptoms but if left untreated can lead to symptoms such as nose bleeds, headaches, shortness of breath, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and kidney damage.

Treatment of Hypertension

Special treatment of hypertension is focused on lifestyle changes, dietary modifications, stress reduction and routine exercise regimen. It is imperative to have your blood pressure monitored periodically and follow with your kidney specialist. At Regional Nephrology Associates, we provide focused care and can assist with the care plan for patients based on their individual needs.

Dialysis is a treatment for people whose kidneys are failing. When you have kidney failure, your kidneys don't filter blood the way they should. As a result, wastes and toxins build up in your bloodstream. Dialysis does the work of your kidneys, removing waste products and excess fluid from the blood.

People who have kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), will eventually need some form of dialysis. Kidney failure can be a long-term condition, or it can come on suddenly (acute) after a severe illness or injury.

Acute kidney failure has the potential of the kidney recovery, depending on the cause. There are five stages of kidney disease as previously discussed. In stage 5 kidney disease, healthcare providers consider you to be in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or kidney failure.At this point, kidneys are carrying out around 10% to 15% of their normal function. People will eventually need some form of dialysis or a kidney transplant, as kidney function worsens, to stay alive.

Hemodialysis is a way to remove waste products from the blood when the kidneys can no longer do their job adequately. In hemodialysis, a machine filters wastes, salts, and fluid from the blood. Currently, hemodialysis is the most common way to treat kidney failure.

In hemodialysis, blood is removed from the body and filtered through a filter called a dialyzer, or artificial kidney, and the filtered blood is returned to the body. To perform hemodialysis, there needs to be an access point in the patient’s body to get the blood from the body to the dialyzer and back into the body. There are three types of access points for hemodialysis: arteriovenous (AV) fistula, AV graft, and central venous catheter (HD catheter). The fistula is the most common access used in adult patients.

When a patient goes to receive hemodialysis, a nurse checks vital signs and gets the patient’s weight. The patient’s weight will indicate how much excess fluid the patient needs to have removed during the treatment. The patient is then connected to the machine.

Blood never actually goes through the dialysis machine. The machine is like a big computer and a pump. It keeps track of blood flow, blood pressure, the amount of fluid removed, and other vital information. It also mixes the dialysate, or dialysis solution, which is the fluid bath that goes into the dialyzer. This fluid helps pull toxins from the blood. The dialysis machine has a blood pump that keeps the blood flowing by creating a pumping action on the blood tubes that carry the blood from the body to the dialyzer and back to the body.

• 1. Dialysis vascular access procedures
• 2. PICC (percutaneously inserted central catheter) and PORT placement
• 3. Tunneled dialysis catheter placement and removals
• 4. Peritoneal dialysis catheter placement and repair
• 5. Ankle/brachial index
• 6. Uterine artery/gonadal artery embolization
• 7. Nephrostomy tube placement and exchange

The procedures performed at ACVI are completed by highly trained interventional radiologists and nephrologists. Procedures can be completed with alternative contrast mediums to limit strain on the kidneys. All procedures are performed in the outpatient setting and patients go home after the procedure completion.