Clinical characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes in adults experiencing dengue hemorrhagic fever complicated with acute renal failure

In a retrospective study, acute renal failure (ARF) was found in 10 (3.3%) among 304 hospitalized adults with dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), and 6 (60%) of the 10 patients with ARF died, whereas all 294 patients without ARF (controls) survived (P < 0.001). Compared with the controls, DHF patients with ARF were found to be significantly older (P = 0.002) and male predominant (P < 0.001) and to have higher frequency of previous stroke (P= 0.005), chronic renal insufficiency (P = 0.046), dengue shock syndrome (DSS; P < 0.001), gastrointestinal bleeding (P < 0.001), and concurrent bacteremia (P = 0.009), lower hemoglobin (P = 0.003) and serum albumin levels (P = 0.003), and higher incidences of prolonged prothrombin time (P < 0.001), elevated aspartate aminotransferase (P < 0.001), and alanine aminotransferase levels (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed DSS (odd ratio = 220.0; P < 0.001) was an independent risk factor for development of ARF in DHF patients. The high fatality rate in DHF patients complicated with ARF in our series underscore the importance of clinicians' alertness to this potentially fatal complication so that initiation of timely appropriate treatment is possible.