This site is intended for healthcare professionals

account_circleSign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages without signing in

Investigations

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Blood tests include:

  • urea, which increases
  • calcium, which is low:
    • secondary to renal phosphate retention and acquired vitamin D resistance
    • lack of activated vitamin D leads to reduced calcium absorption from the gut
  • hyperphosphataemia - due to reduced excretion
  • acidosis
  • uric acid - often raised - however clinical gout rarely occurs
  • reduced creatinine clearance

Other important investigations include:

  • renal imaging
  • the gold standard is renal biopsy

A diabetic patient should be screened for diabetic retinopathy. The presence of diabetic retinopathy in a diabetic patient with chronic renal failure is suggestive of diabetic glomerulosclerosis.

An ECG will demonstrate cardiac arrhythmias caused by electrolyte imbalance.

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.