The hyperfiltering glomerulus.

The observation has been made that after any of a variety of initial renal injuries, nephron units that have been spared undergo structural and functional compensations. The functional compensation of increased perfusion of residual nephrons may present deleterious, maladaptive stresses to those surviving nephrons and lead to their ultimate destruction. This hypothesis provides a final common pathway for the progression of many different renal diseases to renal failure and explains the tendency of renal insufficiency to progress rather than stabilize.