BUN

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X

Blood urea nitrogen

7 - 20 mg/dl. Note that normal values may vary among different laboratories.

Greater-than-normal levels may indicate:

• Congestive heart failure
• Excessive protein catabolism (possibly due to starvation)
• Excessive protein ingestion
• Gastrointestinal bleeding
• Hypovolemia (possibly due to burns or dehydration)
• Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
• Renal disease (for example, glomerulonephritis, pyelonephritis, and acute tubular necrosis)
• Renal failure
• Shock
• Urinary tract obstruction (for example, tumor, stones, and prostatic hypertrophy)

• Liver failure
• Low protein diet
• Malnutrition
• Over-hydration

• Acute nephritic syndrome
• Alport syndrome
• Atheroembolic renal disease
• Chronic renal failure
• Complicated UTI (pyelonephritis)
• Dementia due to metabolic causes
• Diabetic nephropathy/sclerosis
• Digitalis toxicity
• End-stage renal disease
• Epilepsy
• Generalized tonic-clonic seizure
• Goodpasture's syndrome
• Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS)
• Hepatorenal syndrome
• IgM mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis
• Interstitial nephritis
• Lupus nephritis
• Malignant hypertension (arteriolar nephrosclerosis)
• Medullary cystic disease
• Membranoproliferative GN I
• Membranoproliferative GN II
• Type 2 diabetes
• Prerenal azotemia
• Primary amyloid
• Rapidly progressive (crescentic) glomerulonephritis
• Secondary systemic amyloid
• Wilms' tumor

Review Date: 06/13/2005
Reviewed By: Debbie Cohen, M.D., Renal and Electrolyte Division, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.