Objectives: Long-term risk of a major adverse cardiovascular events in ICU survivors who underwent acute renal replacement therapy requires further investigation.
Design: Nationwide population-based study using the claims database of Korea.
Setting: Index admission cases of ICU survivors in government-designated tertiary hospitals PATIENTS:: The study group consisted of ICU survivors who underwent acute renal replacement therapy, and the control group consisted of those without acute renal replacement therapy. Patients were excluded if they 1) were under age 20, 2) expired within 30 days after discharge, 3) received ICU care for less than 24 hours, 4) had a previous ICU admission, 5) had a history of major adverse cardiovascular event, or 6) had a major adverse cardiovascular event-related cardio/cerebrovascular diseases. The outcomes of the patients who received continuous renal replacement therapy were compared with those of patients who received only intermittent renal replacement therapy.
Interventions: None.
Measurements and main results: Information regarding patient characteristics and treatment modalities was collected and adjusted. The main outcome was major adverse cardiovascular event, including acute myocardial infarction, revascularization, and acute ischemic stroke. Patient mortality and progression to end-stage renal disease were also evaluated. We included 12,380 acute renal replacement therapy patients and 382,018 patients in the control group. Among the study group, 6,891 patients were included in the continuous renal replacement therapy group, and 5,034 in the intermittent renal replacement therapy group. The risks of major adverse cardiovascular event (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.463 [1.323-1.619]; p < 0.001), all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.323 [1.256-1.393]; p < 0.001), and end-stage renal disease (adjusted hazard ratio, 18.110 [15.779-20.786]; p < 0.001) were higher in the acute renal replacement therapy patients than the control group. When we compared the continuous renal replacement therapy patients with the intermittent renal replacement therapy patients, the risk of major adverse cardiovascular event was comparable (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.049 [0.888-1.239]; p = 0.575).
Conclusions: Clinicians should note the increased risk of a long-term major adverse cardiovascular event in acute renal replacement therapy patients and consider appropriate risk factor management. Significant difference in the risk of postdischarge major adverse cardiovascular event was not identified between continuous renal replacement therapy and intermittent renal replacement therapy.