Acute renal failure in chronic kidney disease--clinical and pathological analysis of 104 cases

Acute renal failure in chronic kidney disease (A/C) constitutes an important part of acute renal failure (ARF), but until now there has been no research focusing on this entity.

Clinical data were collected from all patients diagnosed as A/C by clinical materials and renal biopsy over a 12-year period (January 1990 - December 2001) in the renal department of a teaching hospital, and the incidence, etiology, pathological and clinical features of A/C, and factors predicting prognosis were studied.

Altogether, 104 patients of A/C were identified, which accounted for 35.5% of biopsied acute renal failure cases during the same period. Drug-induced acute renal interstitial/tubular-interstitial disease, prerenal ARF and flare-up of lupus nephritis were the most common causes of ARF in A/C patients. More than one third of A/C were associated with drugs, which occurred more commonly in older patients. After an average hospitalization of 28.5 days, about 39 patients required dialysis, 23 patients became dialysis-independent. The mortality was 1.9%. Furthermore, serum creatinine (Scr) returned to normal level (< 133 micromol/l) in 46.2% of all patients; Scr decreased by 15%, yet not normal in 26.0%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that hypertension, requirement of dialysis therapy and high Scr level were independent predictors of poor renal outcome.

A/C constitutes an important part of ARF, and drug-induced ARF is prominent in China. Because early diagnosis and correct treatment may obviously affect prognosis, enough attention should be paid to this entity.