[Urinary sediment in acute renal insufficiency. Diagnostic and prognostic value of phase-contrast microscopic examination]. / Le sédiment urinaire dans l'insuffisance rénale aiguë. Valeur diagnostique et pronostique de l'examen en microscopie à contraste de phase.

Living cells from the urinary tract can be examined by phase-contrast microscopy in a pellet obtained by centrifugation of 10 ml of freshly voided urine. Once these cells have been identified and classified according to their sources, their respective proportions can be evaluated, thus providing some information on the renal structures affected. Urine sediment examination was performed in 60 cases of acute renal failure in order to determine the relationship between the abnormalities encountered and the clinical or histological diagnosis. An abnormal sediment was always associated with parenchymal acute renal failure. Cellular debris and casts were abundant in acute tubular necrosis and less numerous in toxic acute renal failure than in failure resulting from shock. The finding of deformed erythrocytes was strongly suggestive of glomerular nephropathy, a diagnosis which was confirmed by renal biopsy in almost every case.

[Hemoperfusion on charcoal and hemodialysis in acute poisoning caused by methotrexate]. / Hémoperfusion sur charbon activé et hémodialyse dans l'intoxication aiguë au méthotrexate.

Acute methotrexate intoxication occurred in 4 patients despite adequate alkaline hyperhydration and classical folinic acid rescue. Three of these patients had no previous risk factor. Charcoal haemoperfusion with haemodialysis was promptly instituted and the methotrexate blood levels rapidly decreased, avoiding further renal damage and multisystemic involvement. Chemotherapy could subsequently be performed in 3 of the 4 patients without delay and toxicity. Charcoal haemofiltration appears to be an excellent treatment of methotrexate intoxication.

[Survival of patients in acute renal failure: effect of nutrition and its associated complications]. / Survie des malades en insuffisance rénale aiguë: influence de la nutrition et des complications associées.

A retrospective study of 150 patients with acute renal failure (ARF) was conducted to assess the influence of both protein and caloric intake and non-renal complications on the prognosis, as well as the predictive value of plasma protein levels. The majority of ARF had occurred in medical or surgical settings (46% and 32.7%, respectively). Nutritional data were available from 94 patients, fed either by parenteral or enteral routes, or both. The mean caloric intake was higher (29 kcal/kg/day) in patients who recovered than in those who did not (24 kcal/kg/day, p less than 0.01). A caloric intake above 35 kcal/kg/day resulted in an improved survival, independently of either patients' age or non-renal complications. Serum prealbumin and transferrin levels were higher in surviving patients than in those who died, 0.25 vs 0.16 g/l (p less than 0.001) and 1.7 vs 1.4 g/l (p less than 0.01), respectively. Nutritional support in ARF could be adapted according to the variations of these serum markers. Its influence on survival should be assessed with regard to the associated prognosis factors.