Haemolytic uraemic syndrome

Abstract

Haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) is a heterogeneous group of diseases that result in a common pathology, thrombotic microangiopathy, which is classically characterised by the triad of non-immune microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury. In this Seminar, different causes of HUS are discussed, the most common being Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli HUS. Identifying the underlying thrombotic microangiopathy trigger can be challenging but is imperative if patients are to receive personalised disease-specific treatment. The quintessential example is complement-mediated HUS, which once carried an extremely high mortality but is now treated with anti-complement therapies with excellent long-term outcomes. Unfortunately, the high cost of anti-complement therapies all but precludes their use in low-income countries. For many other forms of HUS, targeted therapies are yet to be identified.