Acute kidney injury reduces survival in very low birth weight infants

Acute kidney injury (AKI) independently predicts mortality in children and adults. Our understanding of the epidemiology of AKI in very LBW (VLBW) infants is limited to retrospective studies. After adjustment for demographics, comorbidities, and interventions, infants with AKI have decreased survival compared with those without AKI. The study was conducted in regional quaternary care NICU of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. VLBW infants were followed prospectively and were classified into a serum creatinine (SCr)-based classification for AKI. Forty-one of 229 (18%) VLBW infants developed AKI. Those with AKI were more likely to have umbilical artery catheters, assisted ventilation, blood pressure medications, and lower 1-and 5-min Apgar scores. Of the infants with AKI, 17 of 41 (42%) died compared with 9 of 188 (5%) of those without AKI (p < 0.001). AKI was associated with mortality with a crude hazard ratio (HR) of 9.3 (95% CI, 4.1-21.0). After adjusting for potential confounders, those with AKI had higher chance of death as the adjusted HR was 2.4 (95% CI 0.95-6.04). AKI is associated with mortality in VLBW infants. Efforts to prevent and ameliorate the impact of AKI may improve the outcomes in this vulnerable population.