[The development of nephrology and dialysis in the past 40 years].

In the past 40 years the nephrology has been established in the GDR as a subspeciality of internal medicine and pediatrics. In the districts more than 60 nephrological centres were opened and modern diagnostical and therapeutical methods were introduced. More than 2000 patients were treated regularly by artificial kidney. Further detoxification methods including therapeutical plasmapheresis were introduced in the practice in the last years. The number of dialysis increase from 300,000 in 1989 to 500,000 in 1991.