Acute Kidney Injury Clinical Trials in Canada

Background: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at elevated risk of chronic health conditions. Chemotherapies can cause recurrent acute kidney injury which may progress to kidney fibrosis, chronic kidney disease (CKD) or hypertension (HTN). CCS surviving to adulthood are at ≥3 times the risk (vs. non-CCS) for CKD, HTN and lower quality of life. However, the timing of CKD and HTN onset in CCS completing cancer therapy in childhood remains unclear. Guidelines provide recommendations on managing post-cancer therapy effects in CCS, but they lack specificity on kidney testing content, frequency and complications. This discord is largely due to knowledge gaps on which CCS develop CKD or HTN after cancer therapy, when outcomes occur and their severity. Existing work has shown in select patients, CKD and HTN in CCS likely begins in the first 5 years post-cancer therapy and that the burden is significant. With robust data on CKD and HTN, international CCS follow-up guidelines can be optimized to include detailed and actionable recommendations on kidney and blood pressure monitoring and treatment. Read Less

Introduction. Initiation of acute kidney replacement therapy (KRT) is common in critically ill adults admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. KRT has been linked to poor neurocognitive outcomes, leading to a reduced quality of life, as well as increased utilization of healthcare resources. Adults initiated on dialysis in the ICU may be particularly at risk of neurocognitive impairment, as survivors of critical illness are already predisposed to developing cerebrovascular disease and cognitive dysfunction over the long-term relative to healthy controls. Regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) may provide a critical early marker of long-term neurocognitive impairment in patients in this population. The INCOGNITO-AKI study aims to understand cerebral oxygenation in patients undergoing KRT, either continuous or intermittent, in the ICU. These findings will be correlated with long-term cognitive and functional outcomes, as well as structural brain pathology. Methods and analysis. 108 patients scheduled to undergo treatment for acute kidney injury with KRT in the Kingston Health Sciences Centre ICU will be recruited into this prospective observational study. Enrolled patients will be assessed with intradialytic cerebral oximetry using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Delirium will be assessed daily with the Confusion Assessment Method-Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU) and delirium severity quantified as cumulative CAM-ICU-7 scores. Neurocognitive impairment will be assessed at 3- and 12-months after hospital discharge using the Kinarm and Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). Structural brain pathology on MRI will also be measured at the same timepoints. Driving safety, adverse events, and medication adherence will be assessed at 12-months to evaluate the impact of neurocognitive impairment on functional outcomes. Ethics and dissemination. This study has been approved by the Queen's University Health Sciences and Affiliated Teaching Hospitals Research Ethics Board (Approval number: DMED-2424-20). Results will be presented at critical care scientific conferences and a lay summary will be provided to patients and families in their preferred format. Read Less