Renal Hypertrophy in Liver Failure

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Marc Saad, Emory University; William O'Neill, Emory University; Carla Ellis, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-11-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2018 International Society of Nephrology. Published by Elsevier Inc.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2018.07.004
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Kidney International Reports
• ISSN: 2468-0249
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: 1464
• End Page: 1467
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the Data Analytics and Biostatistics Core in the Department of Medicine, Emory University.
• Keywords: Liver Failure; hepatic failure; relationship; Renal Hypertrophy; physiologic response
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, General

Abstract

The relationship between kidney function and liver function has been investigated largely in the context of pathologic changes in advanced liver failure, and little is known about any physiologic responses to hepatic failure. Because both organs are responsible for clearing metabolic by-products, there may be renal compensation for decreased hepatic clearance. This possibility is supported by the fact that both kidney size and glomerular filtration rate vary with other alterations in metabolic demand, such as changes in body size or protein intake.1, 2 Our frequent finding of large kidneys during sonography in patients with end-stage liver disease supported the possibility that renal hypertrophy was occurring. This was investigated by measuring renal parenchymal volume (RPV) on computed tomography scans and examining autopsy findings in patients with or without end-stage liver disease and no clinical or radiologic evidence of intrinsic renal disease.