The kidneys of someone that has chronic renal failure are generally smaller than average kidneys, with some notable and important exceptions (Rogers, 2004). Two of these exceptions would be polycystic kidney disease and diabetic nephropathy (Rogers, 2004). Another diagnostic tool that is used, that of the study of the serum creatinine levels, can not only diagnose chronic renal failure, but also help to distinguish it from acute renal failure, as the acute version would see a rapid and sudden spike in the serum creatinine levels over several days or several weeks, as opposed to a gradual rise that is seen over months or even over years (Rogers, 2004).

Sometimes, the levels of serum creatinine have not been measured in the past, and therefore the patient is often first treated as having acute renal failure. Only when blood tests continue to show elevated serum creatinine levels and it is determined that...
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