13% of TAVR patients develop acute kidney injury, increasing their risk of in-hospital mortality

Patients who develop acute kidney injury (AKI) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) face a much higher risk of in-hospital mortality, according to new data published in the American Journal of Cardiology.

Lead author Salman Zahid, MD, of Rochester General Hospital in New York, and colleagues examined data from more than 216,000 TAVR hospitalizations from 2011 to 2018. All data came from the National Inpatient Sample, a publicly available database that includes patients from all over the United States.

Overall, the team found, 12.9% of TAVR patients developed AKI after the procedure. AKI was more common among TAVR patients presenting with chronic kidney disease (CKD), congestive heart failure, liver disease, peripheral vascular disease, weight loss or solid tumors.

“Previous studies have reported that anatomical and technical factor play an important role in contributing to adverse events, however baseline comorbidities have shown to be equally important,” Zahid and colleagues wrote.

AKI is “a significant predictor of mortality” among TAVR patients, the authors wrote, and CKD stand out as an especially strong predictor of AKI.

In addition, Zahid et al. observed, AKI following TAVR was associated with a significantly higher median cost of stay ($258,056 vs. $17,4673) and median length of stay (9 days vs. 3 days).

Read the full analysis in the American Journal of Cardiology here.

Michael Walter
Michael Walter, Managing Editor

Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.

Around the web

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.

Kate Hanneman, MD, explains why many vendors and hospitals want to lower radiology's impact on the environment. "Taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint in healthcare isn’t just an opportunity," she said. "It’s also a responsibility."