30-Second Takeaway
- Cardiorenal care should prioritize maintaining HF guideline therapies despite modest, early creatinine rises in CKD.
- Oral HIF-PHIs such as enarodustat provide ESA-comparable anemia control and iron mobilization in hemodialysis patients.
- Race-neutral eGFR–based transplant wait-time corrections increased kidney transplants for Black candidates without clear harm to others.
Week ending March 14, 2026
New data refine cardiorenal therapy, anemia management, transplant equity, and biomarker-guided risk across nephrology
KDIGO cardiorenal conference urges integrated HF–CKD therapy and acceptance of small eGFR dips
This KDIGO Controversies Conference summarizes contemporary management of patients with coexisting HF and CKD, who face heightened hospitalization and mortality risk. Experts highlight nuanced interpretation of natriuretic peptides and creatinine in HF–CKD and the importance of clinical context in diagnosing congestion and AKI. They endorse SGLT2 inhibitors, RAAS inhibitors, finerenone, and GLP-1 receptor agonists for overlapping HF–CKD benefit, while noting sparse evidence in advanced CKD. The group stresses that small kidney function declines after HF therapies are usually hemodynamic and should not routinely prompt drug discontinuation.
ENARODIAL: oral enarodustat noninferior to rHuEPO and better maintains Hb targets in HD anemia
In this 24-week randomized study of 100 hemodialysis patients with ESA-treated anemia, enarodustat was noninferior to rHuEPO for mean hemoglobin during weeks 20–24. Mean hemoglobin was higher with enarodustat than rHuEPO, and more patients maintained the 100–120 g/L target range late in follow-up. After ESA-to-enarodustat switch, iron indices improved and hepcidin decreased, with early reticulocyte increases, suggesting enhanced iron utilization. Treatment-emergent adverse event rates were identical between groups, and no new safety concerns emerged over 24 weeks.
Race-neutral eGFR wait-time corrections increase transplant rates for Black kidney candidates
This quasi-experimental OPTN analysis evaluated the 2023 policy requiring wait-time modifications for Black candidates disadvantaged by race-based eGFR equations. Among 181,314 adult candidates, 21,119 received wait-time adjustments, adding a median 1.7 years and over 51,000 person-years of backdated wait time. Interrupted time-series analysis showed an immediate increase of 5.3 transplants per 1000 Black listings after policy implementation, with gradual attenuation over time. Candidates from other racial and ethnic groups experienced no significant immediate change in transplant rates and similar slight downward trends thereafter.
References
Numbered in order of appearance. Click any reference to view details.
Additional Reads
Optional additional studies from this edition.