Wars, disasters and kidneys.

This paper summarizes the impact that wars had on the history of nephrology, both worldwide and in the Ghent Medical Faculty notably on the definition, research and clinical aspects of acute kidney injury. The paper briefly describes the role of 'trench nephritis' as observed both during World War I and II, supporting the hypothesis that many of the clinical cases could have been due to Hantavirus nephropathy. The lessons learned from the experience with crush syndrome first observed in World War II and subsequently investigated over many decades form the basis for the creation of the Renal Disaster Relief Task Force of the International Society of Nephrology. Over the last 15 years, this Task Force has successfully intervened both in the prevention and management of crush syndrome in numerous disaster situations like major earthquakes.