How do patients with kidney disease typically present?
Patients with kidney disease typically present in several ways:
• Abnormal blood laboratory studies (e.g., elevated blood urea nitrogen [BUN] and serum creatinine, decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate, or abnormal serum electrolyte values)
• Asymptomatic urinary abnormalities (e.g., microscopic hematuria, proteinuria, microalbuminuria)
• Changes in urinary frequency or problems with urination (e.g., polyuria, hematuria, nocturia, urgency)
• New-onset hypertension
• Worsening edema in dependent areas
• Nonspecific symptomatologies (e.g., nausea, vomiting, malaise)
• At times, symptoms can be specific (e.g., ipsilateral flank pain in those with obstructing nephrolithiasis)
• Incidental discovery of anatomic kidney abnormalities on routine imaging studies (e.g., horseshoe kidney, congenitally absent or ptotic kidney, asymmetric kidneys, angiomyolipoma, kidney mass, polycystic kidneys)
• Symptoms related to underlying systemic disease (e.g., skin changes and/or rash with scleroderma, vasculitis, systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE], arthritis due to gout, SLE, etc.)
