Aim To study epidemiology, laboratory parameters, outcome and factors determining outcome of patients presenting with acute renal failure in our hospital. Materials and methods A prospective study between December 1997-December 1999 in which all patients presenting with acute renal failure were included. Demographics, laboratory parameters, etiology, outcome and prognostic factors determining outcome were studied. Results 642 patients were part of the study. The predominant underlying cause for ARF was sepsis (153/642); overall mortality was 26.5%. Patients who had sepsis were admitted in the ICU, and patients with oliguria had poorer outcome. Conclusion Sepsis continues to be the predominant cause of ARF. Overall mortality of our patients is better, because of the case mix, a large percentage of patients had acute gastroenteritis as a cause of CRF.