Acute renal failure in children. Multicenter prospective cohort study in medium-complexity intensive care units from the Colombian southeast

Evaluation of the Renal Angina Index to Predict the Development of Acute Kidney Injury in Children With Sepsis Who Live in Middle-Income Countries

OBJECTIVE

The renal angina index (RAI) provides a clinically feasible and applicable tool to identify critically ill children at risk of severe acute kidney injury (AKI) in high-income countries. Our objective was to evaluate the performance of the RAI as a predictor of the development of AKI in children with sepsis in a middle-income country and its association with unfavorable outcomes.

METHODS

This is a retrospective cohort study in children with sepsis hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) between January 2016 and January 2020. The RAI was calculated 12 hours after admission to predict the development of AKI and at 72 hours to explore its association with mortality, the need for renal support therapy, and PICU stay.

RESULTS

We included 209 PICU patients with sepsis with a median age of 23 months (interquartile range, 7-60). We found that 41.1% of the cases (86/209) developed de novo AKI on the third day of admission (KDIGO 1, 24.9%; KDIGO 2, 12.9%; and KDIGO 3, 3.3%).Overall mortality was 8.1% (17/209), higher in patients with AKI (7.7% vs 0.5%, P < 0.01). The RAI on admission was able to predict the presence of AKI on day 3 (area under the curve (AUC), 0.87; sensitivity, 94.2%; specificity, 100%; P < 0.01), with a negative predictive value greater than 95%. An RAI greater than 8 at 72 hours was associated with a greater risk of mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0-3.2; P < 0.01), a need for renal support therapy (aOR, 2.9; 95% CI, 2.3-3.6; P < 0.01), and a PICU stay of more than 10 days (aOR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.1-2.1; P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

The RAI on the day of admission is a reliable and accurate tool for predicting the risk of developing AKI on day 3, in critically ill children with sepsis in a limited resource context. A score greater than eight 72 hours after admission is associated with a higher risk of death, the need for renal support therapy, and PICU stay.

A retrospective analysis of acute kidney injury in children with post-COVID-19 multisystem inflammatory syndrome: insights into promising outcomes

BACKGROUND

Acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS), COVID-19 related infection has been increasingly recognized with a paucity of data on AKI incidence, related mortality, and the requirement of renal replacement therapy in children with MIS (MIS-C).

METHODS

This is a retrospective study evaluating the prevalence, severity, management and outcomes of AKI in a cohort of Egyptian children with MIS-children (MIS-C) post-COVID infection. Patients were included if they met the criteria for MIS-C based on CDC guidelines. All patients were evaluated for AKI diagnosis and staging according to the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria.

RESULTS

Between March 2021 and June 2023, a total of 655 confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted and then followed up in our hospital, of whom 138 (21%) were diagnosed with MIS-C. Fifty-one patients developed AKI associated with MIS-C post-COVID infection, 42 of whom were included in the analysis. Thirty-one patients had AKI in a formerly healthy kidney, of whom 51% (16 patients) were classified as KDIGO stage 3, 5 patients needed hemodialysis and 13 needed mechanical ventilation. Higher WBCs count, and serum ferritin on admission were associated with more severe AKI (KDIGO stage 3) (p = 0.04), while multivariate analysis showed high serum ferritin to be independent predictor of more severe AKI (p = 0.02). Two patients (2/31) died during hospital admission, while no residual renal impairment was reported at the time of discharge of patients with previously normal kidney functions.

CONCLUSION

More than one-third of patients with MIS-C develop AKI. Avoidance of nephrotoxic drugs, early recognition, and prompt management of AKI, including well-timed commencement of dialysis in MIS-C cases, is associated with favorable outcomes.

Acute kidney injury following multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) is a rare paediatric hyper-inflammatory disorder that occurs following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurs in approximately one-quarter to one-third of the patients with MIS-C and is associated with poor prognosis in critically ill children. This systematic review is aimed to evaluate the incidence of AKI, mortality, and the need for kidney replacement therapy (KRT) in patients with MIS-C.

METHODS

We searched databases from Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Register, and Google Scholar from December 2019 to December 2021 with our search strategy. Studies meeting the following criteria were included in this systematic review: (1) articles on AKI in MIS-C; (2) studies providing AKI in MIS-C and COVID-19 infection separately; (3) studies reporting outcomes such as mortality, KRT, serum creatinine; length of hospital/ICU stay.

QUALITY ASSESSMENT

The quality of the included studies was independently assessed by using the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) quality assessment tool for cohort studies and case series.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Outcomes and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported if a meta-analysis of these outcomes was conducted. Heterogeneity was reported using I² statistics, and heterogeneity ≥ 50% was considered high. We used Baujat's plot for the contribution of each study toward overall heterogeneity. In sensitivity analysis, the summary estimates were assessed by repeating meta-analysis after omitting one study at a time. Forest plots were used for reporting outcomes in each study and with their 95% CI. All statistical tests were performed using R software version 4.0.3.

RESULTS

A total of 24 studies were included in this systematic review and of these, 11 were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled proportion of patients with MIS-C developing AKI was 20% (95% CI: 14-28%, I² = 80%). Pooled proportion of death in children with MIS-C was 4% (95% CI: 1-14%; I² = 93%). The odds of death in patients with AKI were 4.68 times higher than in patients without AKI (95% CI: 1.06-20.7%; I² = 17%). The overall pooled proportion of MIS-C-induced AKI patients requiring KRT was 15% (95% CI: 4-42%; I² = 91%).

CONCLUSION

Approximately one-fifth of children with MIS-C develop AKI which is associated with higher odds of death. PROSPERO registration: CRD42022306170 A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information.

Efficacy Evaluation of Ultrasound with Active Contour Model for Hemodialysis in Children with Renal Failure

This study was aimed to explore the efficacy of ultrasound with active contour model (ACM) for hemodialysis in children with renal failure. The pulse coupled neural network (PCNN) was used to extract the initial contour of the ultrasound images, and the cloud model-based ACM was used to accurately segment the images, whose effect was compared with the classic Snake model. 84 children with chronic renal failure who received hemodialysis treatment in hospital were selected as research objects. There were 42 cases in the control group who were diagnosed by conventional ultrasound and 42 cases in the observation group who were diagnosed by ultrasound with the algorithm. Then, 42 children who underwent healthy physical examination (health group) were selected for comparison of related analysis indicators. The error rates of different algorithms were compared to analyze the levels of inflammatory factors in different groups of patients after hemodialysis. The results showed that the error rate of classical Snake model was 18.87% and that of ACM algorithm model was 11.01%, and the error rate of ACM algorithm model was significantly lower ( $P<0.05$ ). After hemodialysis, the level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α was 38.76 pg/mL in the observation group and 40.05 pg/mL in the control group, which was notably decreased in both groups, especially in the observation group ( $P<0.05$ ). After hemodialysis, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 was 7.76 ng/mL in the observation group and 7.60 ng/mL in the control group, which was significantly reduced in both groups. After treatment, UA and Scr in both groups were significantly reduced, and the reduction was more significant in the observation group ( $P<0.05$ ). HGB and RBC were significantly increased in both groups, and the increase was more significant in the observation group ( $P<0.05$ ). In summary, ACM algorithm had a good segmentation effect on the ultrasonic images of children with renal failure. This study provided guidance for clinicians to choose the algorithm for the application of ultrasonic imaging diagnosis.