This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Renal Diseases  • Acute Renal Failure  • Critical Care/ Intensive Care Medicine  • Adult Critical Care  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 144 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: Dr Uchino and colleagues¹ identified risk factors associated with hospital mortality in critically ill patients with ARF, including mechanical ventilation and use of vasopressors. However, they did not describe whether diabetes mellitus was related to morbidity and mortality of ARF.

Schmekal et al² found that in patients with nontraumatic ARF requiring dialysis, congestive heart failure and hypovolemia occurred more frequently in patients with diabetes compared with those without diabetes (P<.05). This suggests that diabetes mellitus could be one of the important risk factors triggering ARF. Although Schmekal et al also reported that the overall mortality was not significantly different between patients with and without diabetes,² the relationship between diabetes and mortality in critically ill patients with ARF remains unclear. It would be helpful if the authors could provide information related to this potential risk factor.

Financial Disclosures: None reported.

Yujiro Kida, MD, PhD
School of Dental Medicine
Tsurumi University
Yokohama, Japan

1. Uchino S, Kellum JA, Bellomo R, et al, Beginning and Ending Supportive Therapy for the Kidney (BEST Kidney) Investigators. Acute renal failure in critically ill patients: a multinational, multicenter study. JAMA. 2005;294:813-818. FREE FULL TEXT 2. Schmekal B, Pichler R, Biesenbach G. Causes and prognosis of nontraumatic acute renal failure requiring dialysis in adults patients with and without diabetes. Ren Fail. 2004;26:39-43. PUBMED

Letters Section Editor: Robert M. Golub, MD, Senior Editor.

JAMA. 2006;295:624.

RELATED ARTICLES

Critically Ill Patients and Acute Renal Failure
Domingos O. d’Avila and Carlos E. Poli de Figueiredo
JAMA. 2006;295(6):624.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Critically Ill Patients and Acute Renal Failure—Reply
Shigehiko Uchino, John A. Kellum, and Rinaldo Bellomo
JAMA. 2006;295(6):624-625.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Acute Renal Failure in Critically Ill Patients: A Multinational, Multicenter Study
Shigehiko Uchino, John A. Kellum, Rinaldo Bellomo, Gordon S. Doig, Hiroshi Morimatsu, Stanislao Morgera, Miet Schetz, Ian Tan, Catherine Bouman, Ettiene Macedo, Noel Gibney, Ashita Tolwani, Claudio Ronco, and for the Beginning and Ending Supportive Therapy for the Kidney (BEST Kidney) Investigators
JAMA. 2005;294(7):813-818.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT