The Urgency of AKI | The NephroCheck® Test

The Urgency of Early AKI Identification

A Key Advancement for Addressing a Dangerous Condition

The NephroCheck® Test was developed in response to the mounting personal and financial costs of acute kidney injury,¹ along with the difficulty of assessing risk in the absence of signs and symptoms, as opposed to such conditions as myocardial infarction.² The test is designed to meet the rising need for risk assessment.³

Assessing the Risk of Acute Kidney Injury: A Paradigm Shift in Renal Care

Dr. V. Seenu Reddy, MD MBA, FACS, discusses the implications of NEPHROCHECK® Test [TIMP2 · IGFBP-7] to identify at-risk patients.

How can early identification of AKI affect patient outcomes?

Dr. Jeffery Vender examines how new biomarkers could benefit patients by identifying their risk for acute kidney injury earlier. AKI is often recognized late and can result in morbidity, mortality and increased cost of care.

A Familiar Danger

Acute kidney injury is an all too common complication, afflicting between 7 percent and 18 percent of all hospitalized patients⁴ and up to 50 % of critically ill patients.⁵ The condition is associated with a 10-fold increase in hospital mortality rates and a higher rate of chronic kidney disease among post-op patients.³

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The Challenges of Timely Identification

While a number of acute and patient risk factors have been identified for AKI, there is no reliable way for a clinician to establish a clear risk profile.²

Delays in recognizing acute kidney injury can potentially lead to irreversible consequences,⁴ but the good news is that in many cases, adverse patient outcomes are avoidable if the condition is recognized and managed in a timely fashion.⁶

Asymptomatic

Symptomatic

PATIENT RISK FACTORS⁷

ADVANCED AGE
FEMALE
BLACK RACE
CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE
CHRONIC DISEASE (HEART, LUNG, LIVER)
DIABETES MELLITUS
CANCER
ANEMIA
DEHYDRATION

ACUTE RISK FACTORS^8-11

SEPSIS
PNEUMONIA
CARDIOGENIC SHOCK
MAJOR SURGERY
CARDIAC SURGERY
NEPHROTOXIC DRUGS
RADIOCONTRAST AGENTS
HYPOVOLEMIA

Unfortunately, traditional methods have proven to be insufficient for timely diagnosis,¹² spurring a growing consensus that better diagnostic and predictive tools are needed to reduce the burden of AKI.⁴ Acute kidney injury claims about 2 million lives a year,¹³ but among admitted patients diagnosed via traditional methods who died from hospital-acquired acute kidney injury¹⁰:

31%

OF CASES WERE AVOIDABLE

43%

EXPERIENCED UNACCEPTABLE DELAYED DIAGNOSES

54%

HAD INADEQUATE RISK ASSESSMENT

Everything Is at Least Two to Three Times Worse

If a patient develops an acute kidney injury complication during hospitalization, short-term and long-term factors such as length of stay, hospital cost, 30-day readmissions and hospital mortality can become at least twice as severe.

The Acute Kidney Injury Effect

Acute kidney injury increases hospital stay lengths, treatment costs, hospital readmissions and mortality rates. img_018_mobile_01 img_018_mobile_02

AKI Mortality

In a study of 27,841 adults undergoing major surgery, hospital and 90-day mortality rates were significantly higher among patients with acute kidney injury.¹⁶

Acute kidney injury significantly increases the mortality rate of adults who underwent major surgery.

More Serious than a Heart Attack

Unlike myocardial infarction, acute kidney injury’s symptoms are not usually apparent, making risk assessment difficult.²

In a study of more than 36,000 hospitalized patients, those who developed acute kidney injury without myocardial infarction had a higher mortality rate than those who suffered myocardial infarction without developing acute kidney injury.¹⁷

Acute Kidney Injury Is Twice as Deadly

Acute kidney injury has a higher mortality rate than myocardial infarction.