What are the causes of acute kidney injury in pregnancy?
In underdeveloped countries, sepsis from illegal abortion and preeclampsia are the most common causes of acute kidney injury.
With improved health care systems, pregnancy-associated acute kidney injury is rare, on the order of 1 in 10,000 to 20,000 pregnancies. Preeclampsia is occasionally associated with acute kidney injury, especially in the setting of the HELLP syndrome.
Pregnancy can be complicated by hemolytic uremic syndrome, which presents in a manner similar to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in other settings.
It can be distinguished from preeclampsia by the elevated transaminases and abnormal clotting parameters seen in preeclampsia. Acute kidney injury can complicate acute fatty liver of pregnancy.
Despite the rarity of acute kidney injury in pregnancy, pregnancy makes the kidney more susceptible to cortical necrosis.
When acute kidney injury occurs in the setting of an obstetric catastrophe such as abruptio placentae, amniotic fluid embolus, or hemorrhage from other causes, there may be residual kidney dysfunction after recovery.
