Up to one half of patients with chronic heart failure and two thirds of patients with acute heart failure have concomitant renal dysfunction—a clinicopathophysiologic association that has been termed the cardiorenal syndrome.1 When present, baseline renal impairment contributes to adverse outcomes in both ambulatory and hospital settings, and the attributable risk increases with progression of ...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequently occurring complication in ICU patients and is associated with decreased short- and long-term survival. Gammelager and colleagues showed that AKI patients are at increased risk for developing heart failure and myocardial infarction at long-term follow-up. Their study provides strong epidemiological data on cardiorenal syndrome type 3, and their findings ...

Renal and cardiac diseases are nearly ubiquitous in hospitalized patients and common causes of morbidity in outpatients. Although the connection between the heart and kidneys is relatively well known in the medical community, a more formal classification for the clinical interplay of the two systems has been developed only recently. Cardiorenal syndrome was described by Italian nephrologist Cla...

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is more likely to progress to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in African Americans while the reasons for this are unclear. The metabolic syndrome is a risk factor for the development of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and has been recently linked to incident CKD. Historically, fewer African Americans meet criteria for the definition of metabolic syndrome, despite h...

Renal dysfunction is highly prevalent in patients with heart failure. Furthermore, worsening renal function in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), the so-called cardiorenal syndrome, impacts short and long-term morbidity and mortality. In recent years, more evidence has surfaced from clinical trials and heart failure registries that a complex cross-talk between the kidney an...

Anti-synthetase syndrome is a relatively recently described auto-immune disease characterized by auto-antibodies to enzymes that acetylate transfer RNA (tRNA). Interstitial pulmonary disease and inflammatory myopathy are regular findings. Our patient also exhibited a lupus-like glomerulonephritis. An important clue was the presence of 'mechanics' hands. Nephrologists need to be aware of this sy...

There is a bidirectional and complex relationship between the heart and kidneys. This interaction is physical, chemical as well as biological and is also reflected in a strong connection between renal and cardiovascular diseases. Cardiorenal syndrome type 4 (CRS type 4) is characterized by primary chronic kidney disease (CKD) leading to an impairment of cardiac function, with ventricular hypert...

Acute cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) corresponds to an association of acute heart failure and a worsening of renal function. The detection of acute kidney injury (AKI) unfortunately occurs at a late stage of CRS, leading to an increased mortality of the patients. In this review, we described the pathophysiology of CRS and discussed the potential interest of biochemical biomarkers (namely creatinine...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The purpose of this study is to review current perspectives regarding the pathogenesis of cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) in chronic kidney disease (CKD), and current treatment guidelines for this condition. RECENT FINDINGS The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the development of CRS in CKD include neurohumoral, haemodynamic and CKD-related mechanisms. Recent evidence sugg...

Anemia is a frequently encountered problem of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and deteriorates as renal function declines. Anemia increases the risk of death in CKD patients with diabetes and hypertension, which are the 2 leading causes of CKD. Recent studies suggest that correction of anemia improves patient quality of life and may delay the progression to end-stage renal disease. Anemia is often...