Pathology of the urinary system

 

uremia

  =  when azotemia becomes associated with a constellation of clinical signs and often 

     

extrarenal lesions: 

  - 

toxemia due to intravascular accumulation of endogenous toxic waste substances (urea, 

creatinine, uric acid, guanidine, phenolic acid, high molecular weight alcohols, and other 

metabolites) and absorbed degradation products of intestinal bacteria (e.g. aliphatic amines, 

many indols and phenols); profound malaise characterizes uremia, and, in human patients, 

plasma concentrations of several compounds correlate more closely with altered mental 

function than do concentrations of urea; 

  - 

alteration in plasma concentrations of electrolytes, such as potassium, calcium, phosphate 

and hydrogen, which may lead to tissue mineralization and metabolic acidosis; 

  

  Note:  uremic animals are always azotemic, but azotemic animals are not necessarily uremic. 

 

   ∙ 

acute renal failure is usually associated with anuria or oliguria, while in chronic renal failure there is 

usually polyuria with terminal oliguria.