[Hemolytic uremic syndrome. Evaluation of clinical and prognostic factors].

Ten patients with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) were admitted to our ICU during the last 7 years. The mean age at entry was 26 month old. Only one child was more than 2 years of age. A greater incidence of this illness was noted during the summer season. Almost all cases (90%), were severe with arterial hypertension and requiring peritoneal dialysis. HUS is a multisystemic disorder with early renal involvement, but the possibility of other sites being affected must be kept in mind. Half of the patients presented extrarenal manifestations of disease, including: seizures (30%), colonic ischemia requiring intestinal resection, and heart failure with lung edema due to severe hypertension. The two parameters that were helpful in determining the prognosis were the interval of renal insufficiency (greater than 14 days) and neurologic impairment, with the later being of most importance.