This is a retrospective study assessing the accuracy of diagnosis, clinical features and outcome of patients coded with a medical record diagnosis of hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) between 1988 and 1998 in a tertiary care centre in Canada. The authors found that, of the 46 patients whose medical records revealed a diagnosis of HRS, only 27 patients (59%) fulfilled the criteria for the diagnosis of HRS defined by the International Ascites Club (IAC) (1). Most patients with HRS were middle-aged men with decompensated alcoholic cirrhosis, jaundice and hepatic encephalopathy. Infection (48%), gastrointestinal bleeding (33%) and overly aggressive paracentesis (27%) were the major precipitants of renal failure. Once HRS developed, the mortality rate was high (93%), with multiorgan failure being the most common cause of death. The authors concluded that diagnostic accuracy is paramount for studies of HRS. In addition, decompensated alcoholic cirrhosis remains the main predisposing factor for HRS, with various other factors precipitating its development.