A Case of Acute Kidney injury After Seawater Immersion.
- Author:
Jae Seok PARK
1
;
Jung Hoon KIM
;
Hyo Wook GIL
;
Jong Oh YANG
;
Eun Young LEE
;
Sae Yong HONG
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Korea. hwgil@schca.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
Hypothermia;
Acute kidney failure;
Immersion
- MeSH:
Acute Kidney Injury;
Anoxia;
Cold Temperature;
Creatinine;
Humans;
Hypothermia;
Hypovolemia;
Immersion;
Male;
Myoglobin;
Near Drowning;
Pulmonary Edema;
Renal Dialysis;
Rhabdomyolysis;
Seawater;
Ships;
Swimming;
Vasoconstriction
- From:Korean Journal of Nephrology
2010;29(2):247-249
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Acute renal failure (ARF) secondary to immersion and near-drowning has rarely been described and it is poorly understood. ARF associated with immersion and near-drowning might be involved with systemic tissue hypoxia, hypovolemia and hypothermia. Some reports have shown that rhabdomyolysis could be involved. We report here on a 52 year old seaman who developed ARF after cold sea-water immersion. He had been swimming for one hour in cold sea-water because his ship became stuck on a rock. After 2 days, his serum creatinine level was increased to 7.8 mg/dL, and pulmonary edema was developed. The serum myoglobin level was 495.1 ng/mL. He was diagnosed as oliguric ARF and treated with hemodialysis. Thereafter, renal function was gradually recovered. We presumed that hypothermia-induced vasoconstriction, hypovolemia and rhabdomyolysis were involved in ARF in the patient. It should be considered that cold sea-water immersion for a long time could evoke ARF in healthy men.
