Renal System

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Explain the pathophysiology of acute renal failure. Include prerenal, intrarenal, and postrenal causes:

Kidneys help perform several vital body functions. Among these are the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of an appropriate acid-base balance, control of blood pressure, production of hormones such as calcitriol, renin, and erythropoietin, and regulation of blood cell production. Kidneys actively filter waste products from the blood and pass to the urinary system for removal, and also control reabsorption of water, amino acids, and glucose. Acute renal failure is when the kidney cannot perform any of these functions normally. A useful way of categorizing acute kidney failure is by describing the way blood flows to, inside, and from the kidney.

Prerenal causes are related to inadequate blood flow before it gets to the kidney. Typical symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, and blood loss. Causes tend to be focused on mechanisms that drop blood pressure such as infection in the bloodstream, liver failure, and hormonal imbalances.

Intrarenal, also known as intrinsic, refer to the failure of the ability to perform its functions on its own. Examples include direct kidney trauma, growth of renal cysts, and diseases such as acute tubular necrosis, acute interstitial nephritis, and acute glomuleonephritis.

Postrenal refer to flow of blood and waste products from the kidney. These cause obstruction in the urinary tract such that urine cannot excrete normally. Examples include kidney stones, cancer of the prostrate, tumors in the path of products from the kidney, and begnign prostatic hypertrophy.

What diagnostic exams would be used to diagnose acute renal failure? How do these tests change as renal failure prog...

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...ademy of Family Physicians – Acute Renal Failure by Malay Agrawal M.D. and Richard Swartz M.D., University of Michigan Medical Center, http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000401/2077.html

The Free Dictionary by Farlex – Medical, ref: The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved., link; http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/subjective+symptom,

The Free Dictionary by Farlex – Medical, ref: The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Link http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/objective+symptom

What is dialysis? MedicineNet.com. Reviewing editor William C. Shiel. Jr. MD. FACP.FACR. http://www.medicinenet.com/dialysis/article.htm

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