Renal functional reserve evolution in children with a previous episode of hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Abstract

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the most widely used indicator of kidney function in patients with renal disease, although it does not invariably reflect functional status after renal injury. The concept of renal functional reserve (RFR) as the ability of the kidney to increase GFR following a protein load was introduced in the 1980s. In this study we evaluated the RFR test in 26 children who had developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) at least 2 years before the first evaluation, then 8 years later. At the beginning of the study they had no signs of proteinuria, hypertension or renal insufficiency. RFR was also evaluated in 15 healthy control children.