title: Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome in Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
abstract: Purpose. To analyze the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in Uberlandia, MG, Brazil. Methods. A historical cohort study was performed encompassing a ten-year period from January 1994 to January 2004 in the Department of Pediatric Nephrology at a full-service hospital; demographic factors, triggering factors, time of hospitalization, supportive therapy, and disease progression were analyzed. Results. Twenty-seven children aged 5 to 99 months (median age of 14 months) were studied; 70.4% were male. Of the 27 patients, 77.8% were from urban areas and 18.5% were from rural areas. Eight of the patients (29.6%) were reported to drink raw milk, and clinical diarrhea was reported in 81.5% of cases. The most common signs and symptoms were fever and vomiting (85.1%), anuria (63.0%), seizure (33.0%), cardiac involvement (11.0%), and acute pulmonary edema (7.4%). Dialysis was performed on 20 patients (74%). The mean hospital stay was 24 days (range: 13 to 36 days). While monitoring the patients, 2 died (7.4%), 3 developed chronic kidney disease (11.0%), and 21 (77.8%) developed hypertension. Conclusion. Our results emphasize the possibility of diagnosing HUS as a cause of renal failure in childhood in both typical (postdiarrheal) and atypical forms and suggest that an investigation of the etiological agent should be made whenever possible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bonetti
authors.forename: C M F
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mangia
authors.forename: J M F
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Zuza
authors.forename: M O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Barcelos
authors.forename: M M S
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Nery
authors.forename: J T A
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Carvalhaes
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Andrade