Increased Rena! Perfusion and Kidney Size in Convalescent Burn Patients

• Renal blood fiw was elevated In convalescent burn patients shortly before dlschar.- (992±112 mL/mln/sq m In burn parents vs 551±37 mL/min/sq m In normal subjects; meaniSE). Autopsy studies demonstrated that renal enlargement was a constant feature of patients after a prolonged hospital course; the kidneys of 28 patients who died after 60 days of hospitalization weighed 241±10 g vs 153±8 g In control subjects. The Increase In renal weight was primarily related to cellular hypertrophy and hyperplasla. These physiological and morphological findings in thermally injured patients may be a form of renal work hypertrophy following increased protein catabolism accompanying severe injury. (J4JM4 244:1588-1590, 1980) FOLLOWING extensive thermal in-jury and successful resuscitation, car-diac output rises, and this increase is associated in time with an elevation in metabolic rate. ' The increase in blood flow is related to the size of the burn wound; the cardiac index may reach levels two to three times nor-mal.2 Although much of the addition-al circulation is directed to the bur