End-stage renal disease

Alternative names:

ESRD; kidney failure - end stage; renal failure - end stage

Definition:

A complete or near complete failure of the kidneys to function to excrete wastes, concentrate urine, and regulate electrolytes.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) occurs when chronic renal failure progresses to the point at which the kidneys are permanently functioning at less than 10% of their capacity. At this point, the kidney function is so low that without dialysis or kidney transplantation, complications are multiple and severe, and death will occur from accumulation of fluids and waste products in the body.

About 4 out of every 10,000 people have end-stage renal disease. In the U.S. almost 100,000 people are on chronic dialysis and more than 20,000 people have a functioning transplanted kidney. Almost half of the people with ESRD are those with diabetes mellitus. ESRD almost always follows chronic kidney failure, which may exist for 10 to 20 years or more before progression to ESRD.