Question

What is chronic renal failure?

Answer 1

Chronic renal failure, also known as chronic kidney disease (CKD), is the progressive loss of kidney function over a period of months or years.

Explanation:

Causes of CKD

The most common causes of CKD are

• diabetes
• hypertension (high blood pressure)
• glomerulonephritis (inflammation of the glomerulus)
• interstitial nephritis (inflammation of the nephron)
• polycystic kidney disease

Identification of CKD

Chronic kidney disease is identified by creatinine in the blood and albumin in the urine.

Higher levels of creatinine indicate a lower glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and, as a result, a decreased capability of the kidneys to excrete waste products.

Albumin levels are graded by the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR).

The stages of CKD are based on both GFR and UACR.

CKD based on GFR

`bb"Stage"color(white)(m)bb"GFR/mL·min"^"-1" color(white)(m) bb"Kidney Function"`
`color(white)(m)1color(white)(mmmm)> 90color(white)(mmmmmm)"Normal, but at risk"`
`color(white)(m)2color(white)(mmmml)"60-89"color(white)(mmmmmll)"Mildly reduced"`
`color(white)(m)"3A"color(white)(mmmll)"45-59"color(white)(mmmmmll)"Moderately reduced"`
`color(white)(m)"3B"color(white)(mmmll)"30-44"color(white)(mmmmmll)"Moderately reduced"`
`color(white)(m)4color(white)(mmmmll)"15-29"color(white)(mmmmmll)"Severely reduced"`
`color(white)(m)5color(white)(mmmml) < 15color(white)(mmmmmll)"Endstage kidney failure"`

CKD based on albuminuria

`bb"Category"color(white)(m)bb"UACR (mg/g)"color(white)(m)bb"Terms"`
`color(white)(mm)"A1"color(white)(mmmmml)< 30color(white)(mmmm)"Normal to mildly increased"`
`color(white)(mm)"A2"color(white)(mmmmm)"30-300"color(white)(mmmm)"Moderately imcreased"`
`color(white)(mm)"A3"color(white)(mmmmm)>300color(white)(mmmm) "Severely increased"`

CKD Assessment

The CKD assessment according to GFR and UACR is summarized in the chart below.

(From www.slideshare.net)