Nephrotoxicity is not only a simple matter of a sudden rise in creatinine followed by a return to normal. In many cases, this scenario may be seen without any permanent damage, but in others an acute kidney injury (AKI) episode may progress to some long-term sequelae and affect both the quality and the duration of life. Some discussions of drug-induced nephrotoxicity may be a matter of life and dialysis (e.g. curing a cancer patient with a nephrotoxic chemotherapy regimen but leading to end-stage kidney disease).
