Like Carlos, most patients with HUS will recover, though some may have lasting complications from renal failure. His case represents a fairly typical presentation of HUS, which usually occurs in young children after ingestion of food or water containing E. coli O157: H7. Though HUS is relatively rare, cases of HUS tend to receive a great deal of media publicity because of the public health implications of E. coli-contaminated food or water. Proper intervention has reduced the mortality from this disease from nearly 100% in the 1950s to 3-5% in the 1990s. The prognosis depends largely on prompt recognition of the problem and aggressive management of its complications, as we saw with this case.

With Carlos’ case of renal failure being due to a gastrointestinal infection with E.coli O157: H7, we saw yet again the interrelatedness all of the systems of the body—not one functions as a stand-alone system. Carlos’ disease, which began as a gastrointestinal illness, impacted multiple systems, including the urinary, cardiovascular, immune, and respiratory systems.

We also saw the interrelatedness of all of the functions of the urinary system. HUS primarily impacts one process of the urinary system—glomerular filtration. However, in impairing the kidneys’ ability to filter blood at the glomerulus, HUS also prevents the kidneys from performing their two other main processes, tubular reabsorption and secretion. When Carlos’ GFR decreased and his kidneys entered renal failure, not only did waste products accumulate in his blood, but his kidneys were also no longer able to regulate his fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base balance.

This case also demonstrated another important principle that we’ve revisited throughout this text: the interrelatedness of form and function. When the glomerular capillaries lost their form due to attack from the E. coli O157: H7 toxin, they were no longer able to carry out their function of blood filtration. Can you think of other examples of the form follows function principle from this case?

Placing a urinary catheter into Carlos’ urinary bladder is a bit more challenging since he is a male. What difference between the male and female urethra explains the difficulty?

Like Carlos, most patients with HUS will recover, though some may have lasting complications from renal failure. His case represents a fairly typical presentation of HUS, which usually occurs in young children after ingestion of food or water containing E. coli O157: H7. Though HUS is relatively rare, cases of HUS tend to receive a great deal of media publicity because of the public health implications of E. coli-contaminated food or water. Proper intervention has reduced the mortality from this disease from nearly 100% in the 1950s to 3-5% in the 1990s. The prognosis depends largely on prompt recognition of the problem and aggressive management of its complications, as we saw with this case.

With Carlos’ case of renal failure being due to a gastrointestinal infection with E.coli O157: H7, we saw yet again the interrelatedness all of the systems of the body—not one functions as a stand-alone system. Carlos’ disease, which began as a gastrointestinal illness, impacted multiple systems, including the urinary, cardiovascular, immune, and respiratory systems.

We also saw the interrelatedness of all of the functions of the urinary system. HUS primarily impacts one process of the urinary system—glomerular filtration. However, in impairing the kidneys’ ability to filter blood at the glomerulus, HUS also prevents the kidneys from performing their two other main processes, tubular reabsorption and secretion. When Carlos’ GFR decreased and his kidneys entered renal failure, not only did waste products accumulate in his blood, but his kidneys were also no longer able to regulate his fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base balance.

This case also demonstrated another important principle that we’ve revisited throughout this text: the interrelatedness of form and function. When the glomerular capillaries lost their form due to attack from the E. coli O157: H7 toxin, they were no longer able to carry out their function of blood filtration. Can you think of other examples of the form follows function principle from this case?

Placing a urinary catheter into Carlos’ urinary bladder is a bit more challenging since he is a male. What difference between the male and female urethra explains the difficulty?

a. The sphincter at the external urethral orifice is more muscular in the male than the female.

b. The male urethra is longer than the female urethra and curves near the membranous portion.

c. The spongy urethra is narrower in the male urethra than it is in the female urethra.

d. The female urethra is longer than the male urethra, because it must travel anterior to the uterus to reach the eternal urethral orifice.