Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome
(HUS)
Medical Author: Benjamin C. Wedro, MD, FAAEM
Medical Editor: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
What is a "syndrome?"
The definition of a syndrome in medicine is a collection of symptoms (patient
complaints), signs (findings on physical examination), and laboratory or imaging
findings that tend to group together and be associated with a specific disease
or illness.
What is hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)?
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a disease of blood clotting within the
capillaries, the smallest blood vessels in the body. As red blood cells pass
through the clogged capillaries, they are sheared apart and broken. This is
called hemolysis and accounts for the first part of the syndrome's name. The
other half of the syndrome's name refers to
kidney failure in which urea and
other waste products build up in the bloodstream because the kidney cannot
filter and dispose of them. (urea=a waste chemical + emia= in the blood).
HUS is also related to another disease caused by a similar clotting process
within the capillaries called thrombotic
thrombocytic purpura (TTP). Within the
medical literature, these two conditions are often considered together. HUS is
more widely known, however, because it has been discussed in the press because
of its relationship to a special type of
E. Coli (Escherichia coli) infection
associated with food poisoning.
Next: What causes hemolytic uremic syndrome? »
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