User:Ftaylor4/Cardiorenal syndrome

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Cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) is an umbrella term used in the medical field that defines disorders of the heart and kidneys whereby "acute or chronic dysfunction in one organ may induce acute or chronic dysfunction of the other". The kidney and the heart are like a marriage that has bumps in the road, some may even say with an unexpected ending. When a person is healthy, the heart and kidney play vital functions that contribute to the wellbeing of the body. When one of these organs fail, the other subsequently fails as well, like a domino affect. In a 2004 report from National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, CRS was defined as a condition where treatment of congestive heart failure is limited by decline in kidney function. This definition has since been challenged repeatedly but there still remains little consensus over a universally accepted definition for CRS. At a consensus conference of the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI), the CRS was classified into five subtypes primarily based upon the organ that initiated the insult as well as the acuity of disease.

Medical management of patients with CRS is often challenging as focus on treatment of one organ may have worsening outcome on the other. It is known that many of the medications used to treat HF may worsen kidney function. In addition, many trials on HF excluded patients with advanced kidney dysfunction. Therefore, our understanding of CRS management is still limited to this date. Patients with kidney failure are less likely to get all guide-lined base therapies. Patients who have moderate to sever CKD was seen to have similar care when compared to those patients who had normal kidney function. This helps show how healthcare workers can do more to increase the outcome of those suffering.

Kidney failure is very common in patients with congestive heart failure. It was shown that kidney failure complicates one-third of all admissions for heart failure, which is the leading cause of hospitalization in the United States among adults over 65 years old. Not only is this the leading cause of hospitalization, it also increases the stays in the ICU. These complications led to longer hospital stay, higher mortality, and greater chance for readmission. The impatient mortality was seen to be much higher for patients with much more sever renal dysfunction. The increase of hospital and ICU stays also increases the cost of care in the hospital. Not only are there patients suffering from their disease, they are also suffering financially due to the cost of the hospital stays. Another study found that 39% of patients in NYHA class 4 and 31% of patients in NYHA class 3 had severely impaired kidney function. Similarly, kidney failure can have deleterious effects on cardiovascular function. It was estimated that about 44% of deaths in patients with end-stage kidney failure (ESKF) are due to cardiovascular disease.