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Purpose: We assessed the incidence, characteristics, outcomes and associations of small, short-term point-of-care creatinine increases in critically ill patients., Methods: We prospectively identified the first episode of small (>1 μmol/L/h) short-term (3-4 h) point-of-care creatinine increase between two sequential arterial blood gas measurements. We followed patients for the subsequent development of Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) defined acute kidney injury (AKI) in the intensive care unit (ICU)., Results: Of 387 patients, 279 (72.1%) developed an episode of small short-term point-of-care creatinine increase and 212 (54.8%) developed AKI. Such episodes occurred at a median of 5 (IQR 2-10) hours after ICU admission, while AKI occurred at a median of 15 (IQR 9-28) hours after admission. Patients with such episodes were more likely to be mechanically ventilated on admission (83.9 vs. 44.4%; p < .001) and had higher hospital mortality (10.9 vs. 3.7%, p = .03). Creatinine increase episodes had a sensitivity of 86% (95% CI 78-95) and specificity of 31% (95% CI 26-36) for subsequent AKI stages 2 and 3 in 24 h., Conclusions: Small, short-term point-of-care creatinine increase episodes are common. They are associated with illness severity, occur early, precede AKI by 10 h and are sensitive rather than specific markers of AKI., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Different molecular forms of urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) have recently been discovered. We aimed to explore the nature, source and discriminatory value of urinary NGAL in intensive care unit (ICU) patients., Methods: We simultaneously measured plasma NGAL (pNGAL), urinary NGAL (uNGAL), and estimated monomeric and homodimeric uNGAL contribution using Western blotting-validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays [uNGAL(E1) and uNGAL(E2)] and their calculated ratio in 102 patients with the systemic inflammatory response syndrome and oliguria, and/or a creatinine rise of >25 μmol/L., Measurements and Main Results: Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated that, despite correlating well (r = 0.988), uNGAL and uNGAL(E1) were clinically distinct, lacking both accuracy and precision (bias: 266.23; 95% CI 82.03-450.44 ng/mg creatinine; limits of agreement: -1,573.86 to 2,106.32 ng/mg creatinine). At best, urinary forms of NGAL are fair (area under the receiver operating characteristic [AUROC] ≤0.799) predictors of renal or patient outcome; most perform significantly worse. The 44 patients with a primarily monomeric source of uNGAL had higher pNGAL (118.5 ng/ml vs. 72.5 ng/ml; p < 0.001), remaining significant following Bonferroni correction., Conclusions: uNGAL is not a useful predictor of outcome in this ICU population. uNGAL patterns may predict distinct clinical phenotypes. The nature and source of uNGAL are complex and challenge the utility of NGAL as a uniform biomarker.

Purpose: The choice of vascular access catheter may affect filter life during continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT); specifically, a new surface-modified catheter has been reported to possibly prevent thrombosis and catheter malfunction., Design and Setting: A sequential, controlled study in a tertiary ICU., Aims: To compare circuit life when CRRT was performed with a Bard®Niagara™ catheter or the surface-modified GamCath™ Dolphin® Protect 1320 catheter., Patients and Measurements: We studied 50 patients with acute kidney injury requiring CRRT, all delivered with catheters in the femoral position. We obtained information on age, gender, disease severity score (APACHE II and APACHE III), filter life, total heparin dose, hemoglobin concentration, platelet count, INR, and aPTT during CRRT., Results: We studied 341 circuits in 50 patients; 30 patients (140 circuits) used the Niagara and 20 patients (201 circuits) used the Dolphin catheter. Mean of circuit life in two groups was 14.9 hours and 13.1 hours, respectively (p=0.22). Patients using Niagara catheters had a more prolonged APTT (p<0.01) and lower platelet count (p=0.05), while heparin dose (p=0.22), and other anticoagulant treatment (p=0.73) were not significantly different. On Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, circuit life was not significant different between the two catheters (p=0.15)., Conclusions: The Niagara and Dolphin catheters appear to be broadly equivalent in terms of their impact on circuit life.

There is limited information on the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) although AKI may contribute to morbidity and mortality. We investigated the incidence of AKI in patients with moderate and severe TBI and the association of AKI with risk factors and outcomes in these patients. We studied all TBI patients over 16 years of age admitted to the two designated trauma hospitals in the state of Victoria, Australia from 1 January to 31 December 2008. Patients were included if they had head trauma and presented with a Glasgow coma scale (GCS) <13. Prospectively collected data from the hospital trauma registries, ICUs, and pathology databases were analyzed retrospectively. Risk injury failure loss end (RIFLE) criteria were used to categorize renal function. The incidence of AKI was 9.2% (19/207). Patients who developed AKI were older, had higher severity of illness scores, and a lower GCS. Overall 42.1% of these patients died in hospital compared with 18.1% in patients without AKI. In univariable linear regression analysis, age, severity of illness, and admitting hospital were associated with AKI. After multivariable logistic regression, the occurrence of AKI was associated with age (p < 0.001) and higher APACHE III scores (p = 0.016). AKI is relatively common even in patients with TBI. Its association with age and APACHE III scores helps identify patients at higher risk of AKI.

Background: The Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative Working Group recently developed the RIFLE criteria, a consensus definition for acute kidney injury (AKI). We sought to evaluate the RIFLE criteria on the day of ICU admission in a large heterogenous population of critically ill patients., Methods: Retrospective interrogation of prospectively collected data from the Australian New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database. We evaluated 120 123 patients admitted for >/=24 h from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2005 from 57 ICUs across Australia., Results: The median (IQR) age was 64.3 (50.8-75.4) years, 59.5% were male, 28.6% had co-morbid disease, 50.3% were medical admissions and the initial mean (+/-SD) APACHEII score was 16.9 (+/-7.7). According to the RIFLE criteria, on the day of admission, AKI occurred in 36.1%, with a maximum RIFLE category of Risk in 16.3%, Injury in 13.6%, and Failure 6.3%. AKI, defined by any RIFLE category, was associated with an increase in hospital mortality (OR 3.29, 95% CI 3.19-3.41, P < 0.0001). The crude hospital mortality stratified by RIFLE category was 17.9% for Risk, 27.7% for Injury and 33.2% for Failure. By multivariable analysis, each RIFLE category was independently associated with hospital mortality (OR: Risk 1.58, Injury 2.54 and Failure 3.22)., Conclusion: In a large heterogenous cohort of critically ill patients, the RIFLE criteria classified >36% with AKI on the day of admission. For successive increases in severity of RIFLE category, there were increases in hospital mortality. The RIFLE criteria represent a simple tool for the detection and classification of AKI and for correlation with clinical outcomes.

Rationale: Few studies have evaluated the epidemiology of acute kidney injury (AKI) in trauma., Objective: To evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes associated with early AKI (evident within 24 hours of admission) in critically ill trauma patients., Methods: A retrospective interrogation of prospectively collected data from the Australian New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database. A total of 9,449 trauma patients were admitted for >or=24 hours to 57 intensive care units across Australia from January 1(st), 2000, to December 31(st), 2005., Main Findings: The crude incidence of AKI was 18.1% (n = 1,711). Older age, female sex (OR 1.60, 95% CI, 1.43-1.78, p < 0.0001), and the presence of co-morbid illness (OR 2.70, 95% CI 2.3-3.2, p < 0.0001) were associated with higher odds of AKI. Those with trauma not associated with brain injury (OR 2.40, 95% CI, 2.1-2.7, p < 0.0001) and a higher illness severity (OR 1.12, 95% CI, 1.11-1.12, p < 0.001) also had higher likelihood of AKI. Overall, AKI was associated with a higher crude mortality (16.7% vs. 7.8%, OR 2.36, 95% CI, 2.0-2.7, p < 0.001). Each RIFLE category of AKI was independently associated with hospital mortality in multi-variable analysis (risk: OR 1.69; injury OR 1.88; failure 2.29)., Conclusions: Trauma admissions to ICU are frequently complicated by early AKI. Those at high risk for AKI appear to be older, female, with co-morbid illnesses, and present with greater illness severity. Early AKI in trauma is also independently associated with higher mortality. These data indicate a higher burden of AKI than previously described.

Sepsis is the most common trigger for acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill patients. We sought to determine whether there are unique patterns to plasma and urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in septic compared with non-septic AKI. Prospective observational study. Two adult ICUs in Melbourne, Australia. Critically ill patients with septic and non-septic AKI. None. Blood and urine specimens collected at enrollment, 12, 24 and 48 h to measure plasma and urine NGAL. Eighty-three patients were enrolled (septic n = 43). Septic AKI patients had more co-morbid disease ( p = 0.005), emergency surgical admissions ( p < 0.001), higher illness severity ( p = 0.008), more organ dysfunction ( p = 0.008) and higher white blood cell counts ( p = 0.01). There were no differences at enrollment between groups in AKI severity. Septic AKI was associated with significantly higher plasma (293 vs. 166 ng/ml) and urine (204 vs. 39 ng/mg creatinine) NGAL at enrollment compared with non-septic AKI ( p < 0.001). Urine NGAL remained higher in septic compared with non-septic AKI at 12 h ( p < 0.001) and 24 h ( p < 0.001). Plasma NGAL showed fair discrimination for AKI progression (area under receiver-operator characteristic curve 0.71) and renal replacement therapy (AuROC 0.78). Although urine NGAL performed less well (AuROC 0.70, 0.70), peak urine NGAL predicted AKI progression better in non-septic AKI (AuROC 0.82). Septic AKI patients have higher detectable plasma and urine NGAL compared with non-septic AKI patients. These differences in NGAL values in septic AKI may have diagnostic and clinical relevance as well as pathogenetic implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]