Profile and outcome of acute renal failure due to tropical infections – A prospective study

Abstract Introduction Acute renal failure (ARF) is one of the most challenging medical problems in the tropics. Late or misdiagnosis and inadequate management often responsible for important complications including ARF. Material and methods This was a prospective study carried in a tertiary health care center of North India to study the profile and outcome of acute renal failure due to tropical infections (dengue, malaria, typhoid, and leptospira). The patients were followed up during the hospital stay and any morbid event or mortality or recovery was recorded and the data statistically analyzed. Results A total of 92 patients were included. Male to female ratio was 3:1. Mean age was 43.3 ± 18.2 years. Dengue fever was the most common etiology (45.7%) of tropical ARF followed by leptospira (27.2%). Oliguric acute renal failure was present in 85.9% and proteinuria in 46.7% of patients. 21% patients required dialysis. The overall mortality was 16% which was maximum in Plasmodium falciparum (25%) followed by dengue fever (23.8%). There was no significant correlation of sex, age, degree of renal failure, dialysis requirement, and peak serum creatinine between survivors and nonsurvivors. Comparing the variables among survivors and nonsurvivors the presence of proteinuria was significantly correlated to mortality ( p  = 0.0096). Conclusion A significant number of patients develop acute renal failure due to tropical infections. A high index of suspicion will help in the etiological diagnosis, treatment and thus a favorable outcome of these patients.