Cardiorenal Syndrome

Abstract

Although combined cardiac and renal dysfunction is common in hospitalized patients and portends a poor prognosis, lack of understanding of the pathogenesis and classification of the condition has hampered the development of therapeutic strategies. Interactions between the heart and kidney involve multiple hemodynamic and nonhemodynamic factors and are usually bidirectional, as acute or chronic dysfunction of the cardiac or renal systems can negatively affect one another. This review introduces a new definition and classification system of cardiorenal syndrome advocated by a consensus conference of the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative and summarizes the current understanding of cardiorenal syndrome.