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Synonyms

Phenacetin nephritis

Definition and Characteristics

A slowly progressive decline in renal function secondary to chronic regular use of analgesic medications. Histology classically shows renal papillary necrosis and chronic interstitial nephritis.

Prevalence

Phenacetin-containing analgesics were initially implicated as the cause of analgesic nephropathy; this led to the withdrawal of phenacetin from the market in many industrialized nations during the 1980s. The general prevalence of analgesic nephropathy in these nations is estimated to be 1–5%. In nations such as Sweden in which over-the-counter sales of analgesic mixtures have also been banned, this prevalence is even lower. Eastern European countries are noted to have higher prevalence rates, presumably related to higher sales of analgesic mixtures. Though the majority of the epidemiological studies are methodologically flawed, lifetime cumulative intake of analgesics seems to correlate with increased incidence of end-stage...

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References

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag GmbH Berlin Heidelberg

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Estrella, M.M., Atta, M.G. (2009). Analgesic Nephropathy. In: Lang, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Molecular Mechanisms of Disease. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29676-8_100

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