Acute Kidney Injury Linked to Higher Risk of Dementia

Acute Kidney Injury, even with complete kidney recovery, is associated with a significantly increased risk of hospitalized dementia, reports the findings of a study presented at ASN Kidney Week 2018 at the San Diego Convention Center.

The study revealed that patients with acute kidney injury had more than a 3-fold higher risk of developing dementia compared with those without acute kidney injury.

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Jessica Kendrick and associates tested the hypothesis that AKI, even with complete kidney function recovery, is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia.

The researchers performed a retrospective propensity score-matched analysis of 2,082 patients without prior history of dementia from an integrated health care delivery system in Utah, who had a hospital admission between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2009.

AKI was defined by ICD-9 codes and AKI Network serum creatinine values. 1041 patients with AKI followed by complete recovery, defined as discharge creatinine <1.10 times the pre-admission baseline value, were propensity score-matched with 1041 patients without AKI during the index admission. Dementia was defined by ICD-9 codes.

The study found that during a median follow-up time of 5.8 years, 97 patients developed dementia. More patients with AKI developed dementia (7.0% vs. 2.3%), and patients with AKI had more than a 3-fold higher risk of developing dementia compared with those without Acute kidney injury.

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“Acute kidney injury (AKI) is linked with a higher risk of developing dementia and further studies are needed to examine the association of AKI with cognitive dysfunction,” writes the author.

AKI, an abrupt decline in kidney function, often arises after major surgeries or severe infections, and it is associated with long-term health problems including the development of chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. Acute kidney injury is also associated with acute neurologic complications.

For reference log on to

https://www.asn-online.org/education/kidneyweek/2018/program-abstract.aspx?controlId=3024328