Dear Emergency Department Physician,
This patient has Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.
This disease is a medical emergency!
Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is an extremely rare, life-threatening, progressive disease caused by chronic, uncontrolled activation of the complement system. The disease affects both children and adults causing systemic thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA), leading to stroke, heart attack, hypertension, kidney failure, encephalopathy, seizures, pancreatitis, liver necrosis, intestinal ischemia, and death. These can occur at any time. Most patients are treated with Eculizumab (SOLIRIS), a complement C5 blocker, which places them at high risk for Meningococcal meningitis, S.Pneumoniae infections, and others.
Please order the following labs in addition to any others:
Minor changes in the above labs can have grave consequences.
Initial emergency management consists of fluid resuscitation, hypertension management and renal support as needed. Please immediately and aggressively treat all suspected infections with antibiotics. Never assume viral etiology.
Please contact the physician specialist who manages patient’s aHUS.
Original PDF created by:
Joseph J. Krug, MD FACEP
aHUS Foundation Medical Advisory Board
Other resources: aHUS Foundation (www.ahus.org), aHUS Alliance (www.ahusallianceaction.org)
This web site is not affiliated with the aHUS Foundation.