This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Acute Kidney Injury Common in Patients Hospitalized for HCV

Dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury was common among patients hospitalized with hepatitis C virus infection. Acute kidney injury was also associated with an increased odds of mortality while hospitalized among this population.

“These results highlight the burden of acute kidney injury in hospitalized adults with HCV infection,” Girish N. Nadkarni, MD, MPH, CPH, instructor in the division of nephrology, department of medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and colleagues wrote.

Girish N. Nadkarni

Researchers analyzed data of 4,603,718 adults with HCV from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, of which 1.12% were hospitalized due to the diagnosis of HCV and complicated by dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury (AKI; n = 51,434) between 2004 and 2012.

“We analyzed temporal changes in the proportion of hospitalizations complicated by dialysis-requiring AKI and utilized survey multivariable logistic regression models to estimate its impact on in-hospital mortality,” the researchers wrote.

Overall, the number of hospitalizations complicated by dialysis-requiring AKI increased from 0.86% in 2004 to 1.28% in 2012. In-hospital mortality was higher in hospitalizations complicated by dialysis-requiring AKI (27.38%) compared with patients without dialysis-requiring AKI (2.95%; adjusted OR = 2.09; 95% CI, 1.74-2.51).

Univariate analysis, including only the year, was used to determine the temporal increase in the incidence of dialysis-requiring AKI. The model showed that the odds of dialysis-requiring AKI increased annually by 5% (OR = 1.05; 95% CI, 1.03-1.07).

Dialysis-requiring AKI was associated with a twofold increase in odds of in-hospital mortality in adults with HCV, similar to the general population.

“The rising incidence of dialysis-requiring AKI was largely explained by temporal changes in acute and chronic comorbidities and concurrent procedures,” the researchers wrote.

The researchers concluded: “Future studies should consider the impact of oral antiviral therapy on the epidemiology of AKI and [chronic kidney disease] in this population.” – by Melinda Stevens

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.