Acute nephritic syndrome

Disease	Injury	Nutrition	Poison

Special Topic	Surgery	Symptoms	Test

Acute nephritic syndrome

Definition:

A group of disorders that cause inflammation of the internal kidney structures (specifically, the glomeruli).

Alternative Names:

Glomerulonephritis - acute; Acute glomerulonephritis; Nephritis syndrome - acute

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Acute nephritic syndrome is the result of inflammation of the internal structures of the kidney, often caused by an immune response triggered by infection (typified by acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis) or other disease.

Despite the diversity of diseases that cause acute nephritis below, they share many symptoms in common. Frequently observed symptoms and signs include changes in urine volume (decreased), renal failure, protein in urine (proteinuria), microscopic or gross blood in urine (hematuria), swelling (edema), high blood pressure (hypertension) and a decreased ability of the kidney to remove wastes effectively.

Causative diseases seen more frequently in children and adolescents include:

Associated diseases generally seen more frequently in adults:

SLE; lupus nephritis
membranoproliferative GN I
membranoproliferative GN II
infective endocarditis
vasculitis
rapidly progressive (crescentic) glomerulonephritis
Goodpasture's syndrome
Klebsiella pneumonia
abdominal abscesses
viral diseases: mononucleosis, measles, mumps, and so on
typhoid fever
hepatitis
syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases

Inflammation disrupts the functioning of the glomerulus, which is the part of the kidney that controls filtering and excretion. Inefficient glomerular functioning results in the loss of blood and protein in the urine and the accumulation of excess fluid in the body. Swelling results when protein is lost from the blood stream. (Protein maintains fluid within the blood vessels, and when it is lost the fluid collects in the tissues of the body).

Urine discoloration results from blood in the urine. This occurs because of loss of blood within the damaged glomeruli.

Acute nephritic syndrome may be associated with the development of hypertension, interstitial inflammation (inflammation of the spaces between the cells of the kidney tissue), and acute renal failure.

Review Date: 12/2/2001
Reviewed By: Andrew Koren, M.D., Department of Nephrology, NYU-Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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