Evaluation of Renal Function with Urinary NGAL and Doppler Ultrasonography in ICU Patients: A 1-Year Observational Pilot Study

Abstract

Background: We estimated the diagnostic accuracy of urinary NGAL for the diagnosis of AKI. Methods: Urinary NGAL and Creatinine were measured daily for up to 3 days. Doppler ultrasonography was performed within 24 h of admission and for the following 3 days. Results: Of the 21 patients, 44% had AKI during their ICU stay. The AKI group presented with higher values of serum Creatinine, renal length, MDRD as well as SAPS II already at admission. Urinary NGAL was significantly higher among patients with AKI and patients AKI-no at T0 (p p = 0.02). Renal length and SAPS II at T0 showed high AuRoc and sensitivity. Conclusions: Urinary NGAL is a valuable marker for AKI in intensive care settings. It seemed that a pre-existing chronic renal disease, the SAPS II and the NGAL at admission represented the principal predictors of AKI.

Keywords

• acute kidney injury (AKI)
• acute kidney injury network (AKIN)
• NGAL
• renal resistive index (RRI)
• serum creatinine