Utilization of small changes in serum creatinine with clinical risk factors to assess the risk of AKI in critically lll adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Disease biomarkers require appropriate clinical context to be used effectively. Combining clinical risk factors, in addition to small changes in serum creatinine, has been proposed to improve the assessment of AKI. This notion was developed in order to identify the risk of AKI early in a patient's clinical course. We set out to assess the performance of this combination approach. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: A secondary analysis of data from a prospective multicenter intensive care unit cohort study (September 2009 to April 2010) was performed. Patients at high risk using this combination approach were defined as an early increase in serum creatinine of 0.1-0.4 mg/dl, depending on number of clinical factors predisposing to AKI. AKI was defined and staged using the Acute Kidney Injury Network criteria. The primary outcome was evolution to severe AKI (Acute Kidney Injury Network stages 2 and 3) within 7 days in the intensive care unit. RESULTS: Of 506 patients, 214 (42.2%) patients had early creatinine elevation and were deemed at high risk for AKI. This group was more likely to subsequently develop the primary endpoint (16.4% versus 1.0% [not at high risk], P<0.001). The sensitivity of this grouping for severe AKI was 92%, the specificity was 62%, the positive predictive value was 16%, and the negative predictive value was 99%. After adjustment for Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, serum creatinine, and hazard tier for AKI, early creatinine elevation remained an independent predictor for severe AKI (adjusted relative risk, 12.86; 95% confidence interval, 3.52 to 46.97). Addition of early creatinine elevation to the best clinical model improved prediction of the primary outcome (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve increased from 0.75 to 0.83, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Critically ill patients at high AKI risk, based on the combination of clinical factors and early creatinine elevation, are significantly more likely to develop severe AKI. As initially hypothesized, the high-risk combination group methodology can be used to identify patients at low risk for severe AKI in whom AKI biomarker testing may be expected to have low yield. The high risk combination group methodology could potentially allow clinicians to optimize biomarker use.

Effect of pentoxifylline on anaemia control in haemodialysis patients: retrospective observational case-control study.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Treatment of anaemia in haemodialysis (HD) with iron and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) does not lead to adequate anaemia control and has been associated with inflammation. The anti-inflammatory effect of pentoxifylline (PTX) may be beneficial in these cases. Our aim was to study the potential effect of PTX on anaemia in haemodialysis patients. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Retrospective observational case-control study on 18 patients (treated with PTX) and 18 controls (without PTX matched by age and sex) on HD (Clínica Universidad de Navarra). Four patients received PTX due to vascular disease and 14 due to refractory anaemia (which was defined as haemoglobin [Hb] <11 g/dl in the last three months despite high doses of ESA and transferrin saturation of >20%). Hb, MIRCERA dose and C-reactive protein were recorded before starting PTX treatment (baseline), at 3 months and at the end of the study. RESULTS: In patients who received PTX, there was an increase in Hb (P<.001) over three months and a decrease in the ESA dose at the end of the study (P=.002). The baseline differences in Hb between groups (lowest of all cases) (P<.001) and ESA dose (highest of all cases) (P=.006), disappeared at 3 months. At the end of the study, 11/18 (61.1%) of patients treated with PTX had adequate Hb levels and received doses of ESA comparable with those of the controls. CONCLUSIONS: In HD patients, PTX in doses of 800 mg/day improves Hb significantly and in the short term (3 months) in HD patients (around 61% response) and allows the required ESA dose to be reduced in the medium-long term. This effect is sustained over time and treatment is tolerated well.