• Of 12 patients with idiopathic edema, ten patients had [ill]eceived total doses of furosemide of up to about 950 g. A good [ill]egative correlation was observed between the creatinine [ill]earance and the duration of daily oral furosemide intake of [ill]ore than 40 mg, and a highly significant correlation was [ill]ound between the logarithm of the creatinine clearance and [ill]he duration of daily furosemide ingestion. Cessation of fu[ill]osemide and institution of a sodium-restricted diet was fol[ill]wed by improvement in the creatinine clearance. Three [ill]atients had acute renal failure with myoglobinuria. All pa[ill]ents examined showed tubular and/or interstitial changes. [ill]his study shows that in idiopathic edema, long-term furose[ill]ide treatment gradually impairs renal function, with reversal [ill] a considerable degree after cessation of the drug, and that it [ill]auses organic changes In the kidney.
(Arch Intern Med 1984;144:2161-2164)