Acute/Chronic Kidney Disease Flashcards
What is acute uraemia?
An acute decline in renal function, leading to a rise in serum creatinine and/or a fall in urine output.
Abrupt (1-7 days) and sustained rise in serum creatinine x1.5 from baseline
What are the causes for acute renal failure?
- Pre-renal (mostly): Dehydration, circulatory collapse, bleeding, NSAID abuse, burns, vasculitis, myeloma
- Parenchymal (5%): Acute tubular necrosis, acute glomerulonephritis , acute cortical necrosis, renal vascular damage, necrotising papillitis, sepsis, rhabdomyolysis (myoglobin released is very irritant), ATN, Goodpasture’s syndrome, malignant hypertension
- Obstructive (10%): Intratubular, ureteral, urethral (clots, stones, enlarged prostate/bladder)
What is the surgical triad?
Infection, nephrotoxic drugs and post-operative volume depletion
It is the commonest cause of hospital-acquired AKI
Which drugs can increase risk of AKI?
• ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II blockers - efferent vasodilation
• NSAIDS - afferent vasodilation
- Do not give to dehydrated patients!!!
• PPIs - Interstitial nephritis
• Lithium
• Aminoglycosides: gentamycin
Contrast medium
What are some of the risk factors for AKI?
• Advanced age >75
• Renal disease
• Malignant hypertension (180/120)
• Diabetes mellitus (glycolisation of renal vessels leading to change in tunica media causing nephropathy)
• Liver disease
• Heart disease
• Use of nephrotoxins
• Radiology contrast media - iodide component
Increased risk if has sepsis, hypotension, high EWS, hypovolaemia
Which drugs cause vasodilation and vasoconstriction at the afferent arteriole?
Constriction - NSAIDS
Vasodilation - ANP, Prostaglandins
Which drugs cause vasodilation and vasoconstriction at the efferent arteriole?
Constriction - ANP, Angiotensin II, norepinephrine
Vasodilation - ACEI/ARBs
Why might a patient be acidotic?
→ Failure to remove acid from renal system
→ Overload of buffering system
→Production of other acids e.g. lactic acid from tissue hypoxia in severely ill
What would a urine dipstick show in a patient with AKI
- Negative usually suggest pre-renal cause
- protein and blood: glomerular disease
- white cells is non-specific but may suggest infection or interstitial nephritis
- People with catheters could get false + results
What kind of ECG changes could occur with AKI?
- Tenting of T waves
- Widening QRS,
- Disappearance of P waves
Sine wave pattern
What is chronic kidney disease?
Progressive loss of nephrons resulting in permanent compromise of renal function. It is classified according to eGFR and ACR. Majority are asymptomatic.
Proteinuria or haematuria and/or reduced GFR for more than 3 months duration.
When is kidney damage at stage 1?
Stage 1 has to be GFR of >90 with evidence of kidney damage like microalbuminuria, proteinuria and haematuria. EVIDENCE OF KDINEY DAMAGE IS IMPORTANT
What is the ACR levels for the 3 CR categories?
A1 - <3
A2 - 3-30
A3 - >30
What is the ACR levels for the 3 CR categories?
A1 - <3 (only treat if have diabetes)
A2 - 3-30 (only treat if diabetes or hypertension)
A3 - >30
How does diabetes cause renal failure?
Estimated 30% of people will have CKD.
Hyperglycaemia -> oxidative stress -> matrix expansion -> increased vascular permeability -> inflammatory mediators
How can GFR be measured?
→ Using urinary clearance of an ideal filtration marker.
→ The gold standard of exogenous filtration markers is inulin.
- Inulin is a physiologically inert substance that is freely filtered at the glomerulus, and is neither secreted, reabsorbed, synthesized, nor metabolized by the kidney.
- in short supply, expensive, and difficult to assay.
→ The most common methods utilized to estimate the GFR are: measurement of the creatinine clearance; and the Cockcroft-Gault equation
What is the presentation of CKD?
→ Lethargy - anaemia is associated due to lack of erythropoietin produced in kidney
→ Concentration trouble
→ Nausea and pruritus - due to accumulation of toxic waste products
→ Poor appetite
→ Trouble sleeping
→ Muscle aches
→ Oedema - salt and water retention as the GFR declines
→ Dry, itchy skins
→ Polyuria
→ Foamy urine - proteinuria
→ Seizures - increase is neurotoxins that are not excreted in kidney
Orthopnoea & dyspnoea - due to pulmonary oedema due to reduced urine output
What is the pathophysiology of CKD?
→ Renal injury -> increase intra-glomerular pressure -> glomerular hypertrophy (adapting to nephron loss to maintain GFR)
→ Increase in glomerular permeability -> toxicity to mesangial matrix -> mesangial cell expansion, inflammation, fibrosis and scarring
Injury results in increased angiotensin II production -> increase TGF beta -> collagen synthesis -> renal scarring
What could be the differential diagnosis for CKD?
a. Diabetic kidney disease - a. history of poorly controlled diabetes
b. Hypertensive nephrosclerosis
c. Ischaemic nephropathy
d. Obstructive uropathy - more common in men [prostate enlargement]
e. Nephrotic syndrome
f. Glomerulonephritis
What are the symptoms of hypercalcaemia?
Painful bones, renal stones, abdominal groans and psychic moans (low mood, confusion, insomnia)
Can tertiary hyperparathyroidism occur due to CKD?
Yes, longstanding CKD is a common cause of tertiary hyperparathyroidism
This would differ from secondary hyperparathyroidism which would show high phosphate instead of low
Causes of transient or spurious non-visible haematuria
urinary tract infection
menstruation
vigorous exercise (this normally settles after around 3 days)
sexual intercourse
Causes of persistent non-visible haematuria
cancer (bladder, renal, prostate) stones benign prostatic hyperplasia prostatitis urethritis e.g. Chlamydia renal causes: IgA nephropathy, thin basement membrane disease
False haematuria causes - red/orange urine, where blood is not present on dipstick
foods: beetroot, rhubarb
drugs: rifampicin, doxorubicin
How does hypernatraemia present?
Symptoms of this include diarrhoea or vomiting, impaired thirst, weight loss, oliguria and other signs of hypovolemia.
How does hyponatraemia present?
Mental status changes, including altered personality, lethargy and confusion. If the concentration falls lower, other signs can include hyperreflexia and seizures.
Na+ - <135
How does hypomagnesemia present?
Symptoms of this include nausea, vomiting, lethargy, weakness, tremor and muscle fasciculations, including Trousseau and Chvostek’s sign.
How does hypocalcaemia present?
Symptoms of this include muscle cramps, and if over a long period of time it can cause symptoms of confusion, memory loss, delirium, and depression.