Vascular dysfunction as a predictor of Acute Kidney Injury
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Hypothesis: Measurements of arterial stiffness pre-operatively predict the risk of development of Acute Kidney Injury in patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass surgery-An observational pilot study of feasibility.
IRAS ID
230141
Contact name
Debasish Banerjee
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
St.George's, University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Acute kidney Injury (AKI) affects 20% of all hospitalised patients in the UK and is associated with an increased risk of early death and future development of chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Many risk factors are associated with AKI development post-operatively but there is no accepted method to predict which patients are at highest risk. In addition it is unclear why some surgical patients develop AKI while others do not despite similar risk factors and health problems.
Blood vessel ‘arterial stiffness’ is a measure of a person’s vascular health and has been shown to predict chronic decline in cardiac and kidney function. Arterial stiffness is reflected by measurement of an individual's 'Pulse Wave Velocity' index (PWV). This non-invasive test involves a probe placed on the skin to assess blood flow in the neck and groin while being attached to a cardiac monitor.
This pilot study aims to investigate if this measurement may also help predict a person’s risk of development of AKI following cardiac surgery. This may allow future development of a risk stratification model for patients with regards to development of AKI following major operations and potential reduction in the incidence and severity of AKI by peri-operative measures and closer monitoring in high-risk patients.Furthermore few studies have truely correlated measurements of blood vessel ‘stiffness’ with actual ‘true’ changes within major human blood vessels. This project will retrieve redundant human aortic artery tissue from the cardiac operations which will undergo specialised staining in the histology department. This will allow determination of calcification and loss of elasticity in blood vessel walls to allow a true correlation between parameters of vascular integrity with real life changes in human blood vessel tissue. Correlation between tissue changes and non-invasive measures of vascular health may potentially highlight new therapeutic targets that are involved in the development of AKI.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/EE/0411
Date of REC Opinion
9 Nov 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion