Acute Renal Failure: Or something else? Differential Diagnosis

Congenital malformations, deformities, and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99).

  • Malformations of the genitourinary system

Blood, blood-forming organs – immune system (D50-D90).

  • Hemolysis – dissolution of erythrocytes (red blood cells).
  • Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) – triad of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA; form of anemia in which erythrocytes (red blood cells) are destroyed), thrombocytopenia (abnormal reduction in platelets/platelets), and acute kidney injury (AKI); Mostly occurring in children in the context of infections; most common cause of acute renal failure requiring dialysis in childhood.
  • Hemorrhage (bleeding), unspecified.
  • Hypoproteinemia – decrease in the protein content of the blood.

Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E90).

  • Hypercalcemia (excess calcium).
  • Hyperoxaluria (synonym: oxaluria, oxalosis) – increase and increased excretion of oxalic acid in urine.
  • Hypovolemia (volume deficiency)
  • Adrenocortical insufficiency
  • Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus

Cardiovascular system (I00-I99)

  • Aortic valve stenosis (narrowing of the aortic valve).
  • Aortic dissection (synonym: aneurysm dissecans aortae) – acute splitting (dissection) of the wall layers of the aorta (main artery), with a tear of the inner layer of the vessel wall (intima) and hemorrhage between the intima and the muscular layer of the vessel wall (outer media), in the sense of an aneurysm dissecans (pathological expansion of the artery).
  • Heart failure (cardiac insufficiency).
  • Myocardial infarction (heart attack) with heart failure (heart failure).
  • Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) with heart failure (heart failure).
  • Renal artery stenosis (narrowing of the renal artery).
  • Thromboembolism – occlusion of a blood vessel by a detached blood clot.
  • Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) due to tumor disease – heterogeneous group of diseases that, in conjunction with endothelial damage, lead to thrombosis of small arterial as well as venous vessels; characterized by mechanical hemolysis (dissolution of red blood cells), low-grade to severe thrombocytopenia (lack of platelets) and acute renal failure.

Infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99).

  • Hanta virus infection
  • Sepsis (blood poisoning)

Liver, gallbladder, and bile ducts – Pancreas (pancreas) (K70-K77; K80-K87).

  • Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) – functional, in principle fully reversible decrease in glomerular filtration rate (total volume of primary urine filtered by all glomeruli (renal corpuscles) of both kidneys together, in a defined unit of time) resulting in oliguric renal failure (in oliguric renal failure, kidneys output <500 ml of urine/day) in patients with liver cirrhosis (irreversible damage to the liver, leading to gradual connective tissue remodeling of the liver with impairment of liver function) or fulminant hepatitis (liver inflammation) in the absence of evidence of other causes of renal failure (slowly progressive reduction in renal function)
  • Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas).

Mouth, esophagus (esophagus), stomach, and intestines (K00-K67; K90-K93).

  • Diarrhea (diarrhea)
  • Vomiting
  • Peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum)

Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99)

  • Rhabdomyolysis – dissolution of striated muscle fibers as a complication of various diseases/conditions.

Neoplasms – tumor diseases (C00-D48).

  • Plasmocytoma (multiple myeloma) – malignant tumor disease belonging to the group of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. Its origin, as in all lymphomas, is in the lymphoid tissue
  • Tumors of the reproductive organs, unspecified.
  • Tumors of the retroperitoneal space (space between the peritoneum and the posterior abdominal wall), unspecified
  • Tumors of the genitourinary tract, unspecified.

Psyche – nervous system (F00-F99; G00-G99).

  • Drug dependence

Genitourinary system (kidneys, urinary tract – sex organs) (N00-N99)

  • Acute interstitial nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys).
  • Benign prostatic hyperplasia – benign enlargement of the prostate gland.
  • Glomerulonephritis (kidney disease caused by inflammation of the renal corpuscles) of different genesis.
  • Interstitial nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys).
  • Pre- and intrarenal diseases (“located before and within the kidney“).
  • Ureteral stenosis (ureteral stricture)
  • Urethrastenosis (urethral narrowing)
  • Urolithiasis (urinary stone disease)

Causes (external) of morbidity and mortality (V01-Y84).

Injuries, poisonings, and other consequences of external causes (S00-T98).

  • Anaphylaxis – most severe allergic reaction.
  • Bleeding
  • Heat stroke
  • Hypothermia (hypothermia)
  • Perforation of hollow organs
  • Rhabdomyolysis – pathological dissolution of muscle fibers as a complication of various diseases/conditions.
  • Burns

Further

  • Obstructed/dislocated urinary bladder indwelling catheters.
  • Volume loss due to surgical drainage
  • Condition after major thoracic (chest), abdominal (abdomen) surgery.

Medication

  • See “Causes” under medications

Environmental pollution – intoxications (poisoning).

  • Metals (cadmium, chromium, lead, lithium, nickel, mercury, uranium).
  • Halogenated hydrocarbons (HFCs; trichloroethene, tetrachloroethene, hexachlorobutadiene, chloroform).
  • Herbicides (paraquat, diquat, chlorinated phenoxyacetic acids).
  • Mycotoxins (ochratoxin A, citrinin, aflatoxin B1).
  • Aliphatic hydrocarbons (2,2,4-trimethylpentane, decalin, unleaded gasoline, mitomycin C).
  • Ethanol (ethanol; alcohol)
  • Ethylene glycol
  • Melamine
  • Salicylate