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Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome »

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 proces...

Read the Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome article »