azotemia
A doctor points to a chart showing elevated azotemia levels in a patient's blood test results.
Noun: A medical condition characterized by an abnormally high concentration of nitrogenous waste compounds, primarily urea, in the bloodstream. This accumulation occurs when the kidneys are unable to filter and excrete these waste products effectively into the urine.
"Azotemia" is a technical term used primarily in medical and clinical contexts to describe a laboratory finding and a state of impaired kidney function. It is often a sign of an underlying problem affecting the kidneys' filtration rate.
- The blood test revealed significant azotemia, indicating acute kidney injury.
- Dehydration from the severe illness led to pre-renal azotemia.
- The doctor monitored the patient's azotemia levels closely after the surgery.
- Classification: In medical practice, azotemia is often categorized by its cause:
- Pre-renal azotemia: Caused by reduced blood flow to the kidneys (e.g., from heart failure or dehydration).
- Intrinsic renal azotemia: Caused by damage to the kidney tissue itself (e.g., from inflammation or toxins).
- Post-renal azotemia: Caused by an obstruction of urine flow after it leaves the kidneys (e.g., from an enlarged prostate or kidney stones).
- Azotaemic (adjective): Pertaining to or affected by azotemia.
- The patient was diagnosed with an azotaemic condition.
- Uremia (noun): A more severe clinical syndrome that includes azotemia along with a wider range of symptoms and biochemical abnormalities caused by kidney failure.
- Nitrogen retention: A general term for the buildup of nitrogenous wastes, synonymous with azotemia in many contexts.
- Uremia (though this implies a more severe, symptomatic state)
- Nitrogen retention
- Elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (this describes a key laboratory measurement of azotemia)
While "azotemia" specifically refers to the biochemical finding of elevated nitrogenous wastes in the blood, it is a key indicator of reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR), which is the kidneys' primary waste-filtering function. It is a sign, not a disease itself.
A doctor points to a chart showing elevated azotemia levels in a patient's blood test results.
- accumulation in the blood of nitrogenous waste products (urea) that are usually excreted in the urine