Use of renin angiotensin system inhibitors in patients with chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Current guidelines recommend renin angiotensin system inhibitors (RASI) as key components of treatment of hypertension in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), because of their effect on reducing the future rate of loss of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). A common risk of RASI in CKD is a haemodynamically mediated, and reversible, fall in GFR of varying severity and duration, any time after commencement of the Inhibitors. A benefit of the acute reduction in filtration rate with RASI may be a reduction in the future rate of loss in GFR: the greatest benefit likely to be in those patients with a greater rate of loss of GFR prior to, and a lesser acute loss of GFR after, introduction of ..