Accuracy of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in the early diagnosis of contrast-induced acute kidney injury in critical illness: Reply to Quartin et al.

摘要

We thank Dr. Quartin et al. for their interest and comments on our recently published article on the accuracy of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associ-ated lipocalin (pNGAL) in the early diagnosis of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting [1]. Questions have been raised about the definition of CI-AKI used and on the reality of CI-AKI in critically ill patients.There is no consensus definition of CI-AKI, and we used the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria because, in a previous study performed in a surgical ICU in our university hospital, AKIN classification was the most sensitive definition to detect CI-AKI, also being associated with two important outcomes: renal replacement therapy and mortality.