Renal syndromes in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS): lessons learned from analysis over 5 years.

Renal syndromes associated with the Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome include: potentially reversible acute renal failure, AIDS associated nephropathy which leads to end stage renal disease, and AIDS developing in patients who are being treated by maintenance hemodialysis. The longitudinal study of 95 patients with AIDS and various forms of renal syndrome at two urban institutions indicates that both acute and chronic renal failure is increasing yearly. While some patients with acute renal failure recover renal function and survive for prolonged period, the mortality of dialyzed patients with irreversible renal failure continues to be unsatisfactory. There is a great need for collecting data from high risk areas to analyze the results of maintenance dialysis therapy in patients with AIDS, to assess the economic impact of uremia therapy, and for long-term planning of available resources.