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AUSTIN, Texas -- The latest in chronic kidney disease care awaits attendees here at this year's Spring Clinical Meeting (SCM18) of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF).

Kicking off at the Austin Convention Center with pre-conference events on Tuesday, the meeting is expected to draw thousands of kidney care providers and researchers.

New for this year's meeting are six sessions designed to improve interprofessional collaborative practice in healthcare delivery, program committee member Jessica Joseph, MBA, vice president of NKF's scientific activities, told MedPage Today. In addition, she said, these activities are accredited for attendees looking to obtain Interprofessional Continuing Education credit.

These sessions, sprinkled throughout the duration of the meeting, will feature interesting topics in all facets of kidney care, including:

• Hot topics in acute kidney injury
• Dispelling myths surrounding peritoneal dialysis
• Delivering palliative care: A practical team approach
• Frailty in renal transplantation
• Fixing operational potholes
• Debate on sodium intake

"This [last] session will consist of a talk by a dietitian regarding how best to quantify the amount of sodium eaten in a day," said Joseph, followed by a debate by two hypertension experts -- Lawrence Appel, MD, MPH, of Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, arguing for the need for population-wide sodium reduction; and Michael Alderman, MD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, arguing against it. "This lecture and debate will highlight issues and conflicting evidence regarding sodium intake and blood pressure and how these relate to cardiovascular outcomes," Joseph said.

Another not-to-be-missed debate taking place Wednesday morning is entitled, "Do Not Set Sail Without a Compass: Planning the Best Access at the Right Time," which will feature Michael Allon, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, arguing for "catheter first and fistula last" for elderly patients on hemodialysis, and Charmaine Lok, MD, of Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, arguing on the con side. The objective of this debate, Joseph said, is to not only recognize specific challenges that elderly end-stage renal disease patients face with vascular access, but also to educate clinicians on selecting the right vascular access for these patients, as well as diagnosing and treating immature vascular accesses.

Another highlighted event at the meeting will be Wednesday's keynote address by Chris Moriates, MD, of Dell Medical School at the University of Texas in Austin, touching on how providers can come together to deliver the highest-value kidney care achieved by coordinating interdisciplinary care, balancing patients needs, and considering the costs of care.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the NKF's Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI), another session at the meeting will focus on the past 20 years of clinical practice changes, as well as the 2018 update to the KDOQI's clinical practice guideline for vascular access.

A similar session on Friday will discuss the initiative's commentary on the recent clinical practice update for chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorders released by Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO). This session will highlight current challenges U.S. providers face following the implementation of this updated guidance and the subsequent controversies from these clinical practice changes.

SCM18 will be topped off by daily poster sessions highlighting the latest comprehensive research findings in kidney care, ranging from oral agent treatments and dialysis to practice management. Joseph noted several topics of research attendees will want to check out, including the following:

• Protein restriction effective in delaying need for dialysis
• Kidneys initially deemed unfit for transplant prove viable
• Medication management reduces dialysis patient hospital readmissions
• Many kidney disease researchers aren't focusing enough on patients
• American formulation of oral urea effective treatment for abnormally low blood sodium levels

Another highlighted abstract will include an additional renal outcomes analysis from the CANVAS program, reporting on canagliflozin use in patients with type 2 diabetes with impaired renal function.

Follow NKF's SCM18 coverage on MedPage Today, and on Twitter , along with the hashtag .

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