Type or etiology |
Causes/risk factors |
Features |
Analgesic nephropathy |
Excessive analgesic use >3 years in various combinations, including NSAIDs; more frequent in women |
Hypertension, nocturia, sterile leukocyturia, hemolytic anemia; characteristic papillary calcifications on CT; small kidneys with irregular outlines, features of papillary necrosis; increased incidence of urinary system cancers |
Lithium-associated nephropathy |
Treatment with lithium for ~15 years |
Proteinuria >1 g/d, hypertension, possibly AVP-R |
Lead nephropathy |
Long-term exposure to lead (lead smelters, paint or battery manufacturing/recycling plants, oil refineries) |
Serum lead may not be elevated but urinary lead excretion (>0.6 mg/d after IV infusion of sodium versenate) is evidence of increased lead burden; high serum uric acid, gout (~50%) |
Uric acid (gouty) nephropathy |
Long-standing inconsistently treated hyperuricemia |
Hypertension, proteinuria <1 g/d, decreased urinary concentrating ability, frequently uric acid nephrolithiasis |
Hypercalcemic nephropathy |
Chronic hypercalcemia |
AVP-R (~20%), renal sodium loss, distal RTA; possible nephrocalcinosis and urolithiasis; acute hypercalcemia may be cause of AKI |
Hypokalemic nephropathy |
Chronic hypokalemia |
Extrarenal symptoms of hypokalemia; AVP-R, renal cysts |
Hyperoxaluric nephropathy |
Congenital metabolic defect (primary hyperoxaluria); complication of extensive small bowel resection or gastric/bariatric bypass surgery or in patients with IBD |
Nephrocalcinosis, nephrolithiasis |
Sjögren syndrome |
|
Symptoms of underlying condition (CIN develops within 2-4 y of disease onset); AVP-R (~10%), distal RTA (~5%), renal potassium loss |
Radiation nephritis |
Several years after exposure to cumulative radiation dose >23 Gy (2300 rad) |
Hypertension, proteinuria, slow reduction in GFR |
Aristolochic acid nephropathy (Chinese herbal nephropathy) |
Chinese herbal preparations (made of Aristolochia plant, traditional Chinese names: Mu Tong, Fang Ji) that contain aristolochic acid (nephrotoxic alkaloid; used for weight loss or skin diseases) |
Moderate proteinuria, glycosuria, no abnormalities of urinary sediment; severe anemia; diagnosis confirmed by detection of metabolites of aristolochic acid in DNA of renal cells; rapid GFR impairment, which may be partially inhibited by glucocorticoids; RRT necessary in >80% of patients within 2 years; urinary system cancers develop in 40%-50% |
Balkan endemic nephropathy |
Endemic along tributaries of the Danube River (Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia); long-term exposure to aristolochic acid contained in cereal products plus genetic predisposition |
Progressive anemia and GFR reduction, rarely hypertension; ESRD develops within 15-20 years; ~100-fold increase in incidence of urinary system cancers |
Hereditary interstitial kidney diseases |
Include autosomal recessive disorders (nephronophthisis) diagnosed in children and autosomal dominant disorders (ADTKD) typically diagnosed in adulthood |
– Nephronophthisis (form of ciliopathy); ESRD in teenagers to patients in their 20s, salt wasting, urinary concentrating defect, occasional medullary cysts on US, extrarenal involvement (CNS, liver) – ADTKD: Slowly progressive kidney failure, bland urinalysis, unremarkable renal US; strong family history of ESRD in patients in their 30s-60s. More common mutations include UMOD gene encoding uromodulin (may present with history of gout), MUC1 gene encoding mucin 1, and REN gene encoding renin (may present with mild hypotension and hyperkalemia) |
Papillary necrosis |
Ischemic or toxic kidney damage (analgesics, NSAIDs); risk factors: diabetes, urinary obstruction, UTI, analgesics, NSAIDs |
Polyuria, nocturia, renal colic; urinalysis: proteinuria, leukocyturia, microscopic hematuria; diagnosis: urography, antegrade pyelography |
ADTKD, autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease; AKI, acute kidney injury; CIN, chronic interstitial nephritis; CNS, central nervous system; CT, computed tomography; ESRD, end-stage renal disease; GFR, glomerular filtration rate; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; AVP-R, arginine vasopressine resistance (previously nephrogenic diabetes insipidus); NSAID, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; RRT, renal replacement therapy; RTA, renal tubular acidosis; US, ultrasonography; UTI, urinary tract infection. |