Question

Mrs. H is a 56-year-old African American female who presented to the emergency department with extreme weakness and shortness of breath progressively worsening over the last two weeks. Mrs. H has led a relatively healthy life with no past medical history and no history of visits to her primary care physician. Upon initial evaluation, the patient’s serum creatinine was 30. The emergency room physician confirmed this critical laboratory finding with a redraw. Other pertinent laboratory findings include sodium 135, potassium 5.8, calcium 12.5, magnesium 2.6, creatinine 30.7 on recheck BUN 55, GFR 8, hemoglobin 9.2 hematocrit 28% WBCs 6.5. On initial assessment, Mrs. H’s vital signs were as follows BP 203/118, HR 98bpm, Resp 24/min, O2 Sat 95% on room air.

What caused her AKI? and why?

Answer 1

Low hemoglobin has caused acute kidney injury because there will be decreased blood volume in anemia causing decreased perfusion of kidney itself resulting in reduced function of kidney.