A pinch of salt - A podcast by ERA

#69 A Practical Guide on Frailty and Sarcopenia for CKD Patients, with Thomas Wilkinson

In this very interesting episode with Thomas Wilkinson we talk about sarcopenia — its prevalence, the outcomes associated with it, the available tools for screening and assessment, the most effective interventions, and the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to care.

#68 What’s New in Vascular Access? With Tamara Jemcov

In this episode we’ll be talking to Tamara Jemcov, the current president of the Vascular Access Society, about novelties in the field of vascular access. If you haven’t checked out the programme from the last Vascular Access Congress which was held in 2025 Padova, you should take look. The field is really expanding and growing, and Tamara discussed the new approaches that were presented at the Congress. We also talked about the appropriate timing of vascular access construction, the immensely useful role of ultrasound in following fistulas and grafts and how it is possible for us to learn this relatively easily, tunnelled vs. non-tunnelled catheters and so on. Definitely worth listening to if you are not an expert in vascular access.

#67 Extracorporeal Adsorption Techniques in ICU Patients – When to Say Yes, When to Suggest No? With Thomas Rimmele

In this episode we will be talking with Thomas Rimmele, an expert in treating acute kidney injury in the ICU, about the role of the new extracorporeal adsorption techniques in ICU patients. We’ll be discussing who are the candidates, when to start treatment, how long should a single session last, how long should we continue doing it, which parameters to check to see if we are successful or not and much, much more. If you are unsure on how to use these techniques to benefit the sickest of patients, this one is for you.

#66 Patient-reported outcomes in clinical practice, with Paul Cockwell

In this episode of A pinch of salt we’ll be talking to Paul Cockwell about patient-reported outcomes in clinical practice. You may or may not be aware of these issues and their importance but one might argue, and we certainly would, that every doctor should be mindful of what their patients consider to be an important outcome and whether they are achieving it or not. Paul is a champion of this field, and he provided some very useful pointers on how a beginner in this field might get to know it and start working on these issues in his or her clinical practice. The SONG initiative will be mentioned, as well as a useful systematic review on symptom burden and health-related quality of life in CKD, and a shout out to a recent important paper published in CKJ (doi: 10.1093/ckj/sfaf112 [https://doi.org/10.1093/ckj/sfaf112]). Learn about the art of trying to meet the patients’ needs in this knowledge-packed episode.

#65 About the GFR formulas – How to measure renal function in 2026? with Pierre Delanaye

In this episode of A pinch of salt, we welcome Pierre Delanaye for a forward-looking discussion on how we should assess kidney function in 2026. Together, we explore the strengths and limits of today’s GFR equations (MDRD, CKD-EPI, cystatin C-based approaches), the promise of emerging biomarkers and AI-driven tools, and the crucial question of fairness and accuracy across diverse populations.