Epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical characteristics and management of childhood cardiorenal syndrome.

Cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) is a new term recently introduced to describe the acute or chronic comorbid state of the heart and kidney that has been long known and frequently managed in very sick individuals. The tight and delicate coordination of physiological functions among organ systems in the human body makes dysfunction in one to lead to malfunction of one or more other organ systems. CRS is a universal very common morbidity in the critically ill, with a high mortality rate that has received very little research attention in children. Simultaneous management of heart and renal failures in CRS is quite challenging; the therapeutic choice made for one organ must not jeopardize the other. This paper reviews the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical characteristics and management of acute and chronic CRS in children.