Plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin: Biomarker of the future or just another test?

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious complication of critical illness in intensive care units (ICU), responsible for a mortality rate of 40 –80% [1,2]. Despite advances in renal replacement therapies (RRT) and improved ICU care, the mortality rate has remained relatively stagnant. Those patients who do survive an ICU admission with a diagnosis of AKI often go on to experience significant morbidity, including life-long RRT in a third o f these survivors [3]. AKI has presented clinicians and researchers with several challenges and continues to elude even the most state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
Source: Journal of Clinical Anesthesia - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research