Is It “Acute Renal Failure” or “Acute Kidney Injury”?
Is It “Acute Renal Failure” or “Acute Kidney Injury”? For decades, nephrologists used the term acute renal failure (ARF), defined as a sudden (within hours to days) decrease in renal…
How Does One Interpret the Urine Anion Gap and Urine Osmolal Gap?
How Does One Interpret the Urine Anion Gap and Urine Osmolal Gap? The serum anion gap (AG) is a time-honored tool in nephrology. As discussed in Chapter 6, the AG…
What Is Free Water Clearance and How Useful Is It?
What Is Free Water Clearance and How Useful Is It? Over 50 years ago, Homer Smith (1952) introduced the concept that the urine flow could be thought of as two…
Why Are Disorders of Sodium Concentration So Difficult?
Why Are Disorders of Sodium Concentration So Difficult? There are two important reasons why sodium concentration disorders (dysnatremias) are challenging. First, making the correct clinical diagnosis can be difficult. Second,…
Is It Helpful to Diagnose a Triple Acid-Base Disturbance? (Or Is It Just a Mental Exercise?)
Is It Helpful to Diagnose a Triple Acid-Base Disturbance? (Or Is It Just a Mental Exercise?) If nephrologists love ratios, they get absolutely ecstatic over complex acid-base disturbances. Back in…
What Is the Meaning of the Urine-to-Plasma Creatinine Ratio?
What Is the Meaning of the Urine-to-Plasma Creatinine Ratio? Nephrologists seem to love ratios. The urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) and the urinary protein-to-creatinine ratio (UPCR) are discussed in Chapter 4….
What Is Urine Albumin-to-Creatinine Ratio? (Or Is It Protein-to-Creatinine Ratio?)
What Is Urine Albumin-to-Creatinine Ratio? (Or Is It Protein-to-Creatinine Ratio?) The amount of urinary albumin or protein is an important diagnostic and prognostic factor in patients with kidney disease (Peterson…
What Is Fractional Excretion and How Does Measuring It Help in Clinical Practice?
What Is Fractional Excretion and How Does Measuring It Help in Clinical Practice? DERIVATION OF THE FORMULA Fractional excretion is a term that nephrologists frequently use in clinical practice (Schrier,…
How Is the Urinalysis Helpful in Patients with Kidney Disease?
How Is the Urinalysis Helpful in Patients with Kidney Disease? In the past, urinalysis (UA) was a standard test done yearly in asymptomatic patients and routinely upon hospital admission. However,…
How Should Changes in Plasma Creatinine Be Interpreted?
How Should Changes in Plasma Creatinine Be Interpreted? Renal (glomerular) function is best determined by measuring the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The most common methods utilize the endogenous substance creatinine,…
