Renal function fails abruptly in a bewildering variety of clinical situations which lack any common clinical patterno This makes it impossible to define acute renal failure in the same way as heart failure or liver failureo Even oliguria, the commonest sign, is not invariably present. As a result, the detection of acute renal failure Table 1. Causes of acute renal failureo Acute tubular necrosis Ischaemic type Nephrotoxic type Cortical necrosi . * Hepatorenal syndrome Occlusion of main renal arteries Occlusion of arterioles Malignant hypertension Haemolytic uraemic syndrome Thrombotic...

This book in the Topic Pack series covers some of the commoner and some of the rarer nephrological diseases. Owing to their diverse nature a 'traditional' approach, i.e. one considering pathogenesis, symptoms, signs and treatment, has been used. This inevitably leads to some repetition but the reader should be con- stantly reminded that apparently trivial symptoms such as fre- quency, dysuria, etc. may be the clues to more fascinating pathol- ogy. In addition, where relevant, attempts have been made to remind the reader of some basic renal physiology in order to understand the results of...

This book does not pretend to be a comprehensive textbook of nephrology, nor is it a guide to the management of renal disease, as space does not allow the description or discus sion of investigation and treatment. Its intention is to illustrate the diverse diseases which present to nephrologists. Since the key to understanding the effects and progression of a disease are to know and com prehend its pathology, I have approached the subject not by discussing presenting symptoms of single diseases in different sections, which would lead to much repetition, but by describing the disorders...