title: The start of clinical nephrology in Austria and developments in the treatment of patients with end stage renal disease over the last decades.
abstract: Over the last 50 years nephrology has seen milestone achievements in basic sciences as well as in clinical medicine. This article describes the start of clinical nephrology in Austria in the 1950's and the significant changes over the last decades. With 625 patients/pmp Austria has worldwide one of the highest numbers of patients treated for endstage renal disease. In 1995, 5020 patients were alive on replacement therapy, equally distributed between transplanted and dialyzed patients. An overview over the developments that led to Austria's prominent role in the treatment of end stage renal disease is given.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Vienna, Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Watschinger
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Watschinger
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000266:history* / Q000628:therapy; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000266:history*; D009398:Nephrology / Q000266:history*; D017582:Renal Replacement Therapy / Q000266:history*