A correlation between acute kidney injury and myonecrosis after scheduled percutaneous coronary intervention

Slight elevations in cardiac troponin I and T are frequently observed after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is a complex syndrome induced by exposure to intravascular contrast media (CM). Currently, the relationships between the CM, pre-existing kidney insufficiency, CI-AKI, and myonecrosis after elective PCI are unclear. To investigate the relationship between CI-AKI and post-procedural myonecrosis (PMN) after PCI, we analyzed 327 non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome subjects undertaking elective PCI. The levels of cardiac troponins (cTns), cTnI and cTnT, at baseline and on at least one occasion 18–24 h after PCI were measured. We also recorded serum levels of creatinine (SCr) and the urine albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR) before coronary angiography, and 24–48 h and 48–72 h after contrast administration. A post-procedure increase in cTns was detected in 16.21% (53/327) of subjects with cTns levels >99th to 599th percentile upper reference limit (URL). Twenty-seven patients (8.26%) developed CI-AKI. CI-AKI occurred more often in subjects with PMN than in those without PMN (20.8% versus 5.8%, respectively, P=0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that pre-existing microalbuminuria (MA) was an important independent predictor of PMN (OR: 3.31; 95% CI: 1.26–8.65, P=0.01). However, there was no correlation between the incidence of CI-AKI and PMN (OR: 2.38; 95% CI: 0.88–6.46, P=0.09). We conclude that pre-existing MA was not only an important independent predictor of CI-AKI but also of PMN.