The new ERA-EDTA codes for primary kidney diseases

The ERA-EDTA codes for primary renal disease (ERA-EDTA PRD code) were implemented many years ago as a tool to use during the annual census of the European Register. They encompassed all those kidney diseases that terminate in uremia, grouped together in various sections, to produce a document that, in a pre-computer age, would guarantee the simplicity of use required at the time, when the census was compiled manually. Over the years, the refinement of diagnostic techniques and the evolution of medical knowledge in general has limited the use of these codes. In addition, the expansion of computer technology has simplified word search in documents thereby permitting the use of far more complex lists containing greater numbers of codes. For this reason, ERA-EDTA has initiated a comprehensive revision of the PRD codes, producing a new list (ERA-EDTA PRD code 2012) which is considerably more detailed and thorough: for example, renal disease not leading to uremia is included, thereby extending the use of codes for scientific applications not restricted to dialysis. In addition, it is amenable to 'recoding' into different encoding systems, including ICD-10, SNOMED-CT data and the Mendelian Inheritance in Man. The new ERA-EDTA codes are accompanied by detailed notes to guide the user. Both codes and notes have been translated accurately into Italian and are now available on the site of the Italian Dialysis Register www.sin-ridt.org together with further information and a search tool for ease of use. This article introduces thenew codesand describesthe Italian language translation process.