[Cardionephrology: past, present and future]

In 1987, the first Kidney-Heart meeting was held in Assisi, Italy and in 1991 the term Cardionephrology was coined in medical practice. Since then, nephrologists and cardiologists realized the utility of a tight cooperation among them and organized an agenda of scientific meetings which take place every two years within European countries. The cooperation was strengthened by daily observation which shows renal replacement therapy had solved many problems but imposed or added new disorders to cardiovascular system. Soon, the nephrologists learned that hemodialyisis techniques had not only blood detoxification effect but also cardiovascular consequences. Therefore, the nephrologists started to adopt cardiological tools and apply them to renal patients. The cardiologists realized that in some aspects kidney patients are different from non-renal cardiological patients and have to be treated differently. In Assisi Cardionephrology meetings a clear message was launched: the necessity to bring nephrologists and cardiologists together with the potential benefit of learning from others experiences and transferring the outcome for the benefit of our patients. As result, many foundations and journals have been emerged on this topic. Is there a future for Cardionephrolgy? The answer is yes, with a unique limitation: to continue the spirit of Assisi, following the culture of cooperation and relying on RCTs hypothesis.