[Disorders of kidney function and acute kidney failure in newborn infants]

Compromised kidney function in the perinatal period has been increasingly recognized during recent years, and acute renal failure is a frequent clinical situation in neonatal intensive care units. Renal underperfusion due to various prerenal conditions is assumed to be the most common cause of renal failure in neonates. With rapid restoration of renal blood flow, prerenal failure is completely reversible in the early course of the disease. If adequate treatment is delayed, however, structural damage to the kidneys by prolonged ischemia will ensue leading to a poor prognostic outcome. This review, therefore, mainly focuses on early diagnosis of disturbed neonatal kidney function and prophylactic therapeutical aspects which may be of particular benefit for critically ill newborns at high risk for developing acute renal failure.