Abstract

Abstract Background and Aims Renal cortical necrosis (RCN) is a serious complication of acute kidney injury (AKI) and pregnancy is a clinical state closely associated with it with poor renal outcomes. The incidence is much higher in obstetrical AKI compared to other causes of RCN. Despite better medical care facilities available, this continues to be an important cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Method This is a retrospective analysis among all pregnant females presenting with AKI from January 2000 to December 2020 at a tertiary care center in the northern part of India. We looked for the incidence of obstetrical-related RCN in our renal biopsies performed in the last 20 years and to evaluate precipitating factors responsible for RCN. Results RCN constituted 8.1 % of pregnancy-related AKI cases in our institution. The overall incidence has been declining which was 9.09% from 2000 to 2008 to 8.7 % from 2009 to 2014 and 8.1% from 2014-2020. The patient's median age was 28.4 ± 4.6 years. The average time to presentation from the day of delivery was 7.8 ±3.0 days. The mortality was observed in 10.4 % of them with sepsis and multiorgan dysfunction present in all of them. The most common etiology for RCN was found to be septic abortion and puerperal sepsis accounting for - 16.2 % each. Postpartum hemorrhage was a cause in 9.67 % of patients. The most important cause of RCN was postpartum thrombotic microangiopathy which was observed in 49.5% of patients. Kidney biopsy was helpful in diagnosis in 36 patients while computed tomography scan abdomen alone helped in diagnosis in five patients. Patchy cortical necrosis in histology was seen in 36.7% of patients and morbidity in terms of prolonged hospitalization was seen in 23.4 % while dialysis dependency in 63.4% of the study population Conclusion Strategies need to be implemented in reducing the preventable causes for RCN which is not only catastrophic in terms of renal outcomes but also for social and psychological perspectives as well.

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