Group Play

Group A was, arguably, the weakest group in The Tournament. The Netherlands took home the victory rather early in the Tournament, peaking at the start and only growing its lead over time. Polypharmacy is an increasingly common occurrence among dialysis patients and seems to be top-of-mind among the NephroWorldCup players.

Interestingly the 3rd place position jockeyed between Senegal and Qatar, with Senegal taking a permanent lead mid-stage.

The Netherlands will take on England in the Quarterfinals. Cast your 90-second vote here.

England took an early lead in both Group B and the Tournament. A re-analysis of the PIVOTAL trial seemed to be high on the list of exciting clinical studies for the Players. Interestingly, innovative topics such as the USA (vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of pediatric nephrotic syndrome) and Wales (pre-conception counseling for pregnant patients with CKD) were lauded on social media but could not earn the votes needed to capture the Group.

England moves onto the Quarterfinals to face The Netherlands. Cast your 90-second vote here.

Chronic kidney disease post-nephrectomy was more exciting than the other competitors in this group. We were surprised that this group was not more competitive. Saudi Arabia presented an interesting look at the value of renal pharmacists in avoiding drug dosing errors. Mexico fielded a squad that analyzed COVID-19 deaths during the pandemic itself. Team Poland may have been ahead of its time with proadrenomedullin levels.

In the end, CKD wins the day and Argentina moves onto the Quarterfinals to face a tough competitor in Denmark. Cast your 90-second vote here.

SGLT2 inhibitors are the hottest topic in the CVRM world. Indeed one can make the argument that the field of CVRM medicine has been fueled towards growth from SGLT2 inhibitors more than any other advance in diabetes or cardiorenal syndromes. Denmark does not disappoint as it fields a unit that expands the use of SGLT2 inhibitors in kidney stone prevention.

It wasn't a forgone conclusion that Denmark would advance. Early on, France gave Denmark a good run. Icosapent ethyl is a newcomer to the world of cholesterol management and its effects on patients with various stages of CKD. Denmark enjoyed a tight lead against France until the mid-point of the Group stage where it was pushed forward by new players.

Perhaps the biggest surprise came from the underperformance of Australia. Many players chose Australia to advance into the final rounds of the Tournament. The quadpill is a nice addition to one's anti-hypertensive armamentarium and reduces the number of pills needed (see The Netherlands victory in Group A), but it never really had a fighting chance.

Denmark moves onto the Quarterfinals and will face South American powerhouse aArgentina. Cast your 90-second vote here.

Once again, SGLT2 inhibitors make a roaring entry into the NephroWorldCup Tournament. The ROTATE-3 trial looked at SGLT2 inhibitor use along with non-steroid mineralocorticoid use in surrogate kidney endpoints.

Perhaps more interesting was the neck-and-neck battle for second place in the Group between Germany and Japan. Japan fielded an impressive team looking at tolvaptan use in CKD patients with heart failure. Germany entered the group stage with a look at PCSK9 levels. Surprisingly, Team Japan did not runaway with second place even though it looked at treatment while Germany looked at diagnosis.

Spain, a European powerhouse, will compete against Canada in the Quarterfinals. Cast your 90-second vote here.

The theme of this year's Tournament is CVRM science, and true to this theme, players voted for Canada's cardiology-renal-endocrine clinic as the winner of this group. Canada took an early lead and grew it as players voiced their favor of a truly multidisciplinary clinic. There was no looking back for Canada as they continued their meteoric rise to the top of the group.

Canada now faces a formidable opponent in Spain in the Quarterfinals. Cast your 90-second vote here.

Our second South American powerhouse vaults into the Quarterfinals with an impressive performance in the group. Balanced solutions are increasingly favored by those in the critical care community and their comparison against 0.9% saline ("normal" saline) in head-to-head trials are sure to be CVRM-fan favorites. Only Switzerland had a fighting chance against Brasil with its examination of incremental hemodialysis against standard HD. Alas, perhaps Switzerland would have fared better if it fielded a squad that compared incremental HD against peritoneal dialysis.

Nonetheless, Brasil moves on to the Quarterfinals to challenge Portugal for a berth into the Semifinals. Cast your 90-second vote here.

Portugal ran away with this group. They took an early lead and never looked back. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is very popular and we'd be very excited to see it matched against a team focused on SGLT2 inhibitors (Spain or Denmark). For that to happen, however, Portugal must content with a Quarterfinal match against Brasil.

Cast your 90-second vote here.