Plötzlicher Kindstod und akutes Nierenversagen*1

Summary 102 kidneys from children were examined post-mortem to see whether acute renal failure could be a cause of sudden death in children. In 12 (12.2%) there were morphological signs of acute renal failure: with one exception these kidneys were all from children who had died after a short and dramatic illness (within 18 to 48 hours of first symptoms) with a clinical picture of acute hyperpyretic toxaemia. In ten of these there was the morbid-anatomical finding of obvious renal disease: in two only was there mild respiratory infection with toxic follicular changes in the lymphatic system. The findings suggest…