Is there association between statin usage and contrast-associated acute kidney injury after intravenous administration of iodine-based contrast media in enhanced computed tomography?

Impact of atorvastatin reload on the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy in patients on chronic statin therapy: A prospective randomized trial

BACKGROUND

This trial aimed to assess the efficacy of Atorvastatin reloading on the prevention of Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients pre-treated with this statin and undergoing coronary catheterization.

METHODS

This was a prospective randomized controlled study including patients on chronic atorvastatin therapy. We randomly assigned the population to the Atorvastatin Reloading group (AR group), by reloading patients with 80 mg of atorvastatin one day before and three days after the coronary procedure, and the Non-Reloading group (NR group), including patients who received their usual dose without a reloading dose. The primary endpoints were the incidence of cystatin (Cys)-based CIN and Creatinine (Scr)-based CIN. The secondary endpoints consisted of the changes in renal biomarkers (Δ biomarkers) defined as the difference between the follow-up level and the baseline level.

RESULTS

Our population was assigned to the AR group (n = 56 patients) and NR group (n = 54 patients). The baseline characteristics of the 2 groups were similar. Serum creatinine (SCr)-based CIN occurred in 11.1% in the NR group, and in 8.9% in the AR group without any significant difference. Cys-based CIN occurred in 37% in the NR group and 26.8% in the AR group without any significant difference. The subgroup analysis showed that high dose reloading had significantly reduced the CYC-based CIN risk in patients with type 2 diabetes (43.5% vs 18.8%, RR = 0.43. CI 95% [0.18-0.99])). The comparison of "Δ Cystatin" and Δ eGFR between the AR and NR groups didn't show any significant difference. However, cystatin C had significantly increased between baseline and at 24 hours in the NR group (0.96 vs 1.05, p = 0.001), but not in the AR group (0.94 vs 1.03, p = 0.206).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study did not find a benefit of systematic atorvastatin reloading in patients on chronic atorvastatin therapy in preventing CIN. However, it suggested that this strategy could reduce the risk of CyC-based CIN in diabetic type 2 patients.

Contrast-Associated Acute Kidney Injury: Advances and Challenges

A decrease in renal function that follows intravascular administration of contrast medium (CM) within a few days is reported as contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). In clinical practice, the imaging procedure is frequently deferred when clinicians consider that the renal risks caused by CM outweigh the benefits of enhanced imaging. However, with an in-depth understanding of AKI and contrast medium, scholars have realized that the decrease in renal function after CM is caused by contrast medium factors and noncontrast medium factors (such as anemia and hemodynamic instability). Therefore, acute kidney injury caused by CM has been overestimated in the past. The term “contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI)” has been increasingly used to indicate AKI after intravascular administration of contrast medium compared with CI-AKI. CA-AKI can increase the risk of death and chronic kidney disease. However, its pathophysiological mechanism has not been fully elucidated, and the effectiveness of various preventive and therapeutic measures have been questioned. These present challenges for us. In this article, we will review the diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, risk factors, pathophysiological mechanisms and treatment of CA-AKI to provide optimized imaging procedures in clinical practice.

Contrast-induced acute kidney injury after computed tomography with contrast media in patients with cardiovascular diseases

Aim. To assess the frequency of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) undergoing computed tomography (CT) with intravenous contrast media. Materials and methods. In prospective observational study (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT04666389) were included 51 patients with CVD undergoing CT with intravenous contrast media administration. The primary endpoint was CI-AKI according to KDIGO criteria [the 25% rise (or 0.5 mg/dl) of serum creatinine from baseline assessed 4872 hours after administration of contrast media]. There were 51% of women included in the study. The average age was 61.741.5. The most frequent cardiovascular disease was hypertension in both men and women 52 and 39% respectively. Results. CI-AKI was diagnosed in 2 (3.92%) patients. At the same time, it was not possible to establish statistically significant relationship (p0.05) between risk factors and the development of CI-AKI. Conclusion. Cardiovascular diseases may increase the risk of CI-AKI after CT with intravenous contrast media administration. Therefore, it is recommended to evaluate the serum creatinine concentration in such patients.

Effect of statins on post-contrast acute kidney injury: a multicenter retrospective observational study

Background

Post-contrast acute kidney injury (PC-AKI) is a severe complication of coronary angiography (CAG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Currently, the effect of statins on PC-AKI and its mechanism remains unclear.

Methods

This multicenter retrospective observational study included 4386 patients who underwent CAG or PCI from December 2006 to December 2019 in Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital and its medical consortium hospitals. Serum creatinine pre- or post-procedure within 72 h after PCI was recorded. Multivariate logical regression was used to explore whether preoperative use of statins was protective from PC-AKI. The path analysis model was then utilized to look for the mediation factors of statins.

Results

Four thousand three hundred eighty-six patients were enrolled totally. The median age of the study population was 68 years old, 17.9% with PC-AKI, and 83.3% on preoperative statins therapy. The incidence of PC-AKI was significantly lower in group of patients on statins therapy. Multivariate regression indicated that preoperative statins therapy was significantly associated with lower percentage of elevated creatinine (β: -0.118, P < 0.001) and less PC-AKI (OR: 0.575, P < 0.001). In the preoperative statins therapy group, no statistically significant difference was detected between the atorvastatin and rosuvastatin groups (OR: 1.052, P = 0.558). Pathway model analysis indicated a direct protective effect of preoperative statins therapy on PC-AKI (P < 0.001), but not through its lipid-lowering effect (P = 0.277) nor anti-inflammatory effect (P = 0.596). Furthermore, it was found that “low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)→C-reactive protein (CRP)” mediated the relationship between preoperative statins therapy and PC-AKI (P = 0.007). However, this only explained less than 1% of the preoperative protective effects of statins on PC-AKI.

Conclusion

Preoperative statins therapy is an independent protective factor of PC-AKI, regardless of its type. This protective effect is not achieved by lipid-lowering effect or anti-inflammatory effect. These findings underscore the potential use of statins in preventing PC-AKI among those at risk.