Cardiac Arrythmia causing Acute Tubular Necrosis

My father passed away on the 15th October 2012. He was admitted to hospital at 1AM and passed away at 10AM, the Coroner's office have just called me with the cause of death, which is Cardiac Arrhythmia causing Acute Tubular Necrosis, i have looked at ATN on the internet, and it states that it is usually reversible... My question is: how long would my Dad have had ATN for, is it a very sudden thing, or would he have had it for some time?

[Midijane]

Hi Sarah,

Im sorry you just lost your father. I hope you are doing as well as can be expected.

Im not a physician but my guess here is that the cardiac arrythmia led to your father's kidneys shutting down. If the heart has a prolonged arrhythmia, it is possible, depending on the arrythmia, for the heart to not be able to pump enough blood out to the body's other organs. If the kidneys dont receive an adequate blood supply, it can cause damamge like ATN and eventually lead to kidney failure. It can happen pretty quickly.

Wishing you well during this time, hope this helped a bit.

[sarahsamantha]

Thank you, my concern was that my Dad's doctor should have picked it up sooner, as Dad had lower back pain for some time, but having said that he was also suffering from prostrate cancer, i guess i shouldn't expect too much from the doctor. Thank you so much for your response, and kind words.

[michellepetkus]

I don't know much about atn but wanted to add my thoughts and prayers on the loss of your father.  Stay strong.