Impact of the development of acute kidney injury on patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit

OBJECTIVE

To identify the risk factors for the development of acute kidney injury and for short and long-term mortality of patients with acute kidney injury after admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Retrospective analysis of patients admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit from January 2004 to December 2008. Acute kidney injury was defined by the KDIGO criterion. Risk factors for acute kidney injury, in-hospital, and long-term mortality were obtained through multivariate logistic regression analysis. Long-term mortality (up to 2011) was obtained by searching the institution's database and by telephone contact with patients' family members.

RESULTS

A total of 434 patients were evaluated and the incidence of acute kidney injury was 64%. Most acute kidney injury episodes (78%) occurred within the first 24hours after admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. The risk factors for the development of acute kidney injury were: low volume of diuresis, younger age, mechanical ventilation, vasoactive drugs, diuretics, and amphotericin. Lower weight, positive fluid balance, acute kidney injury, dopamine use and mechanical ventilation were independent risk factors for in-hospital mortality. Long-term mortality was 17.8%. Systolic blood pressure, PRISM score, low volume of diuresis, and mechanical ventilation were independent risk factors associated with long-term mortality after admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

CONCLUSION

Acute kidney injury was a frequent, early event, and was associated with in-hospital mortality and long-term mortality after admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

[Predictive value of plasma cytokines for acute kidney injury following lung resection surgery: prospective observational study]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Patients undergoing lung resection surgery are at risk of developing postoperative acute kidney injury. Determination of cytokine levels allows the detection of an early inflammatory response. We investigated any temporal relationship among perioperative inflammatory status and development of acute kidney injury after lung resection surgery. Furthermore, we evaluated the impact of acute kidney injury on outcome and analyzed the feasibility of cytokines to predict acute kidney injury.

METHODS

We prospectively analyzed 174 patients scheduled for elective lung resection surgery with intra-operative periods of one-lung ventilation. Fiberoptic broncho-alveolar lavage was performed in each lung before and after one-lung ventilation periods for cytokine analysis. As well, cytokine levels were measured from arterial blood samples at five time points. Acute kidney injury was diagnosed within 48h of surgery based estabilished criteria for its diagnosis. We analyzed the association between acute kidney injury and cardiopulmonary complications, length of intensive care unit and hospital stays, intensive care unit re-admission, and short-term and long-term mortality.

RESULTS

The incidence of acute kidney injury in our study was 6.9% (12/174). Acute kidney injury patients showed higher plasma cytokine levels after surgery, but differences in alveolar cytokines were not detected. Although no patient required renal replacement therapy, acute kidney injury patients had higher incidence of cardiopulmonary complications and increased overall mortality. Plasma interleukin-6 at 6h was the most predictive cytokine of acute kidney injury (cut-off point at 4.89pg.mL^-1).

CONCLUSIONS

Increased postoperative plasma cytokine levels are associated with acute kidney injury after lung resection surgery in our study, which worsens the prognosis. Plasma interleukin-6 may be used as an early indicator for patients at risk of developing acute kidney injury after lung resection surgery.

Predictive factors of mortality in pediatric patients with acute renal injury associated with sepsis

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the prognosis factors of children with sepsis and acute kidney injury.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study of children with sepsis and acute kidney injury that were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a tertiary hospital. A multivariate analysis was performed to compare risk factors for mortality.

RESULTS

Seventy-seven children (47 males) were retrospectively studied, median age of 4 months. Mean length of hospital stay was 7.33±0.16 days, 68.9% of patients received mechanical ventilation, 25.9% had oligo-anuria, and peritoneal dialysis was performed in 42.8%. The pRIFLE criteria were: injury (5.2%) and failure (94.8%), and the staging system criteria were: stage 1 (14.3%), stage 2 (29.9%), and stage 3 (55.8%). The mortality rate was 33.7%. In the multivariate analysis, the risk factors for mortality were PICU length of stay (OR=0.615, SE=0.1377, 95% CI=0.469-0.805, p=0.0004); invasive mechanical ventilation (OR=14.599, SE=1.1178, 95% CI=1.673-133.7564, p=0.0155); need for dialysis (OR=9.714, SE=0.8088, 95% CI=1.990-47.410, p=0.0049), and hypoalbuminemia (OR=10.484, SE=1.1147, 95% CI=1.179-93.200, p=0.035).

CONCLUSIONS

The risk factors for mortality in children with acute kidney injury were associated with sepsis severity.