Nephrology is one of internal medicine divisions, which cares various diseases including renal and urinary disorders. It mainly cares many glomerular diseases, acute and chronic renal failures, hypertensions, renal diseases including polycystic kidney, nephrolith, urinary tract infections, electrolyte, and acid-base disorders. Gangnam Severance Hospital Nephrology operates Artificial Kidney Center to help acute and chronic renal failure patients. Additionally it performs hemodialyses and peritoneal dialyses a lot. For the treatment for diabetic nephropathy, it tries to prevent complication of kidney, cooperates with Cardiology, Endocrine Medicine, and Ophthalmology. Also it tried to slow the progression of various glomerular diseases through renal biopsy. There are some educations for patients to encourage them to join the treatments actively.
Clinical Experience - Gangnam Severance Hospital Nephrology expanded Artificial Kidney Center in June 2000, and started to conduct dialyses every day, twice in the forenoon and twice in the evening. Especially, it mainly offers treatments for renal failure patients who get the disease by diabete mellitus, the etiology of terminal renal failure. It cooperates with Neurology, Ophthalmology, and Cardiology to care cardiovascular disease, stroke, and eye diseases. Additionally, equipment for kidney replacement is utilized at ICU to help acute renal failure patients rapidly. Since 2005, to prevent chronic complications of long-term dialysis patients, it is using the online hemodialysis filtration equipment, which many Europeans prefer to use, to adapt the new dialyses. Also it operates 24-hour-Dialysis Center for emergency dialyses.
The hemodialysis unit was expanded in June 2000 by placing 20 dialysis machines where dialysis is performed twice every morning and every afternoon. This unit places much emphasis on those renal failure patients with diabetes that usually develops in end stage renal failure patients. The division consults closely with neurology, ophthalmology and cardiology divisions for the effective treatment of patients with renal disease who are likely to develop cardiovascular disease, stroke and eye complications. The ICU is equipped with a Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy machine for the treatment of patients with acute renal failure that develops from various causes. In order to reduce chronic complications seen in patients who are treated with hemodialysis for an extended period, the division secured the equipment for on-line hemodialysis filtering that is used frequently in Europe in 2005 for selective treatment. The dialysis unit is operated so that 24-h of emergency hemodialysis can be possible.