THE ELDERLY PATIENT WITH ACUTE-RENAL-FAILURE

Structural and functional changes observed in the aging kidney predisp ose the elderly patient to acute renal failure. Up to 36% of the patie nts with acute renal failure from this institution were over 70 yr, an d the literature is full of similar experiences, The elderly patient w ith abrupt cessation of adequate renal function requires a special wor k-up in diagnosis and treatment, Prerenal and obstructive causes are o f particular interest. Although the question of whether or not age has an independent prognostic importance during an episode of acute renal failure remains debated; when these and other authors compared the ou tcome of young and old populations with these disorders, a similar evo lution was always observed. Age should not be used as a discriminant f actor in therapeutic decisions concerning acute renal failure.