The Effect of Contrast Administration on Renal Function after Cardiac Catheterization in Saudi Patients

The increase of serum creatinine by 25% from the baseline readings will lead to contrast-induced nephropathy. Most of the time this acute reduction in kidney function will occur in the first 48 h after angiogram; diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the major predisposing factors.

Our objective is to study the influence of contrast material administration during angiogram on kidney function, especially in patients with risk factors such as DM in the Saudi community.

This was an open-label study; we included 1250 patients from July 2010 to June 2011, and we studied all comers during that period; more than 60% of admissions came through the emergency department with acute coronary syndrome, in addition to elective admission with stable computer-aided design.

The incidence of nephropathy related to the contrast used during angiogram was 4.8%, and this represents 60 patients of 1250. Of the 60 patients, the number of diabetic patients who developed nephropathy was 37 (62%). 40 (67%) patients were hypertensive. Twenty-five (42%) patients had body weight <70 kg, 37 (62%) had diagnostic cath, 23 (38%) underwent percutaneous coronary intervention, and 47 (78%) received Omnipaque contrast media.

The incidence of nephropathy postcoronary angiogram was 4.8%; the two major risk factors in our Saudi patients were hypertension and diabetes; the diabetic patients should be monitored precisely, and special measures should be taken seriously.