Changes in frequency and etiology of acute renal failure in pregnancy (1980-1997).

In recent years, the incidence of acute renal failure (ARF) in pregnancy has decreased in developed countries. This cause of this decline has been reported to be liberalized abortion laws and improved prenatal care. The aim of this study was to determine if the incidence and etiology of ARE in pregnancy in our population had undergone similar changes. Between January 1, 1980 and January 1 1997 the number of the patients with ARF was 487. In 74 (15%) of these patients, the etiology of ARF was associated with pregnancy. The frequency of ARF in pregnancy was 17.4% between January 1980 and August 1985, 15.4% between September 1985 and November 1989, 13.5% between December 1989 and January 1997. The differences between the frequencies were not statistically significant (p > 0.5). In the present series, the various disorders leading to ARF in pregnancy were abortion (30%), HELP syndrome and pre-eclampsia (14%), pre-eclampsia or eclampsia (12%), postpartum hemorrhage (15%), fetal death (12%), abruption placentae (6%) and placentae previa (1%).