title: Management of acute kidney injury in cirrhosis.
abstract: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a relatively frequent problem, occurring in approximately 20 % of hospitalized patients with cirrhosis. Although serum creatinine (S Cr) is the most commonly used method to determine AKI because of easy availability and low cost, practically it underestimates the extent of kidney injury in patients with chronic liver disease. AKI is defined as an abrupt rise in S Cr of 0.3 mg/dl or more (>26.4 mmol/l) or an increase of 150 % or more (1.5-fold) from baseline. The cause of AKI in cirrhosis is multifactorial and is unique in terms of pathogenesis. The most common causes of AKI in cirrhosis can be subdivided into either functional or structural. The functional group includes volume-responsive (prerenal azotemia) and volume-unresponsive states (hepatorenal syndrome). Volume responsive is the most common type of AKI due to frequent use of diuretics, large volume abdominal paracentesis and gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with liver disease. The structural causes include acute tubular necrosis, tubulointerstitial and glomerular diseases. Patients with decompensated cirrhosis are in a vasodilatory state leading to a decrease in effective arterial blood volume, predisposing to AKI. Therefore, management of AKI depends on the underlying cause, and therapy should be directed toward removal of the cause. The outcome in cirrhosis when patients are on dialysis is very dismal. Every effort should be made to prevent AKI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences (ILBS), D-1, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, 110070, India. sumanmassu2000@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: Suman Lata
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Rakhi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maiwall
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences (ILBS), D-1, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, 110070, India.
authors.forename: Ashish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nandwani
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences (ILBS), D-1, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, 110070, India.
authors.forename: Sivaramakrishnan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramanarayanan
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences (ILBS), D-1, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, 110070, India.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sarin
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Chitranshu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vashishtha
keywords: Acute kidney injury; Acute renal failure; Acute tubular necrosis; Chronic liver disease; Cirrhosis; Hepatorenal syndrome