[The Classics of Italian Nephrology: ''The physiopathological basis for the nosography and the classification of bilateral kidney diseases'' by Pio Bastai (1888-1975) and Massimo Crepet (1911-1994)].

The paper ''I fondamenti fisiopatologici per la nosografia e la classificazione delle malattie renali bilaterali'' (The physiopathological basis for the nosography and the classification of bilateral kidney diseases'') by Pio Bastai (1888-1975) and Massimo Crepet (1911-1994) was presented at the 54th Congress of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine, which was held in October 1953 in Rome. In the report, the authors proposed their own classification of renal diseases based on a ''physopathological'' criterion and different from the classifications proposed by other authors of the period. According to Bastai and Crepet, renal diseases could be classified into arteriolopathies (either acute or chronic), capillary diseases (glomerulonephritides, including inflammatory and noninflammatory forms), renal diseases due to circulatory failure, nephropathies due to toxic substances, interstitial nephropathies, and idiopathic nephropathies. Of particular interest today is the part of the paper on the nosography of the so-called ''genuine glomerulonephrosis'' which, at variance with the view of the leading clinicians at the time, was placed among the inflammatory glomerulonephritides. In addition, the authors expressed their uncertainty about the existence of primary chronic interstitial nephropathies. Today, the paper by Bastai and Crepet shows how difficult it was to propose a classification of renal diseases in a period when the use of renal biopsy was still in its infancy.