FG 1368

Renal failure has long been recognized as a severe and devastating disorder. During both World Wars large numbers of wounded soldiers developed so-called war nephritis, as a consequence of shock, rhabdomyolysis, and sepsis. Today, ischemia/reperfusion, sepsis/inflammation and rhabdomyolysis are still leading factors of AKI. However, contrast medium-induced nephropathy (CIN) has become more frequent.

Only recently has it been acknowledged that even small changes in kidney function have important effects on outcomes. One of the first studies which demonstrated the importance of these minute changes in renal function was published in 1996 by Levy et al. They found that patients who developed CIN after undergoing radiocontrast procedures had an adjusted odds ratio for mortality of 5.5. Since then, several others have demonstrated that a seemingly slight impairment of kidney function has an important effect on outcome in different cohorts.