C-reactive protein in acute renal failure.

This paper demonstrates the utility of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the diagnosis of infection in patients with acute renal failure. C-reactive protein can be assayed using plasma as effectively as using serum, thus avoiding the problems of microclots in serum, which can occur in samples from a heparinised patient. Plasma concentrations of C-reactive protein are unaffected by the process of haemodialysis. In the complicated setting of the severely ill patient with acute renal failure, infection remains the most common cause of death and its detection is often difficult. The use of C-reactive protein assay in this setting is illustrated by data from 20 patients, and two representative cases are described in detail. It is recommended that C-reactive protein be assayed daily to aid in the detection of infection in patients with acute renal failure.