Outcomes following dialysis for acute kidney injury among different stages of chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND

Information is limited regarding the outcomes of patients with preexisting chronic kidney disease (CKD) who develop dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury.

METHODS

131 adult patients with advanced CKD who received emergent hemodialysis from January to June in 2002 were recruited and monitored for all-cause mortality and end-stage renal disease until the end of 2007.

RESULTS

Among patients investigated, 21 (16%) were successfully withdrawn from acute hemodialysis after an average of 8 sessions of dialysis therapy (range: 1-44). Multivariate analysis revealed that larger kidney size (odds ratio, OR = 1.755, p = 0.018), lower predialysis creatinine (OR = 0.722, p = 0.002), and non-diabetes (OR = 0.271, p = 0.037) were predictors for withdrawal. After 5 years, all patients in the non-withdrawal group remained on chronic dialysis, whereas only 8/21 (38%) patients in the withdrawal group developed end-stage renal disease. Cox's analysis showed that age (hazard ratio, HR = 1.043, p < 0.0001), prerenal azotemia (HR = 1.040, p = 0.002), and adjusted propensity score for assigning to dialysis withdrawal (HR = 6.819, p = 0.008) were associated with mortality. Withdrawal from acute dialysis was not related to long-term mortality (p = 0.34).

CONCLUSIONS

Among the advanced CKD patients, predictors of the successful weaning from acute dialysis were non-diabetes, larger kidney size and lower serum creatinine levels. The strategy of removal from emergent dialysis was not related to long-term mortality.