Emergency room
Emergency room: Acute renal failure (ARF), also known as acute kidney failure (AKF) or acute kidney injury (AKI), is a rapid loss of renal function due to damage to the kidneys.
ARF is a serious condition and treated as a medical emergency.
AKI can be the result of trauma or accident. Early detection of kidney damage is vital in ensuring correct patient treatment and shortening patient recovery times.
Cystatin C is a more precise marker than serum creatinine in an emergency situation. Cystatin C does not suffer from the creatinine “blind area”.
Cystatin C indicates the state of the kidney now rather than it was 24 hours earlier as is the case with creatinine measurement.
Cystatin C testing is implemented in the emergency rooms at Karolinska University hospital in Sweden.
Acute renal failure (ARF) and acute kidney injury (AKI)
| Description | An emergency situation. Seriously reduced GFR and potentially fatal kidney damage that has multiple causes including accident or sickness. |
| Reason | AKI is a life-threatening condition. ARF and AKD are common in hospitalized patients and have a mortality rate between 30% and 90%. |
| Total procedures | 100 million (2008) and growing at 6-10% annually. |
| Occurrence | Relatively common in emergency situations where physical signs are not necessarily visible. |
| Risk group | Persons in life-threatening condition; accident victims; poisoning victims; acutely sick persons. |
| Recommendation[0] | Cystatin C testing is implemented in the emergency rooms at Karolinska University hospital in Sweden from 2008. |
References
0. Personal communication.
Further reading
Any medical text book.
