ABSTRACT
Classic analgesic nephropathy is a slowly progressive disease resulting from the daily use over many years of mixtures containing at least two antipyretic analgesics, and usually including caffeine or codeine (or both), which may lead to psychological dependence. This type of nephropathy has never been described after the intake of a single analgesic substance. The nephropathy is characterized by renal papillary necrosis and chronic interstitial nephritis, with an insidious progression to renal failure, sometimes in association with transitional-cell carcinoma of the uroepithelium (De Broe et al., 1996; Duggin, 1996; Gloor, 1961; Henrich et al., 1996; Kincaid-Smith and Nanra, 1993; Spuehler and Zollinger, 1953).
