Symptoms:

• Blood in the urine (urine appears dark, tea colored, or cloudy)
• Blurred vision
• Decreased urine volume (little or no urine may be produced)
• General aches and pains ( joint pain, muscle aches)
• General ill feeling (malaise)
• Headache
• Slow, sluggish, lethargic movement
• Swelling of the face, eye socket, legs, arms, hands, feet, abdomen, or other areas

Late symptoms include the following:

• Cough containing mucus or pink, frothy material coughed up
• Decreased alertness, drowsiness, confusion
• Difficulty breathing, especially at night, while lying down, or from exercise
• Easy bruising or bleeding
• Flank pain
• High blood pressure
• Nausea and vomiting
• Seizures

Signs and tests:

Your blood pressure may be high. When examining your abdomen, your health care provider may find signs of fluid overload and an enlarged liver. When listening to your lungs and chest with a stethoscope, abnormal heart and lung sounds may be heard. The neck veins may be enlarged from increased pressure.

Generalized swelling is often present. There may be signs of acute kidney failure.

Tests that may be done include:

• BUN
• Creatinine
• Creatinine clearance
• Urinalysis
• Urine appearance and color
• Potassium test
• Protein in the urine

A kidney biopsy reveals inflammation of the glomeruli, which may indicate the cause.

Tests to determine the cause of the acute nephritic syndrome may include:

• ANA titer (lupus)
• ANCA (antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody for vasculitis)
• Anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody
• Blood culture
• Culture of the throat or skin
• Serum complement (C3 and C4)