Clinical features of acute kidney injury in the elderly

Kim, Jung Sub; Son, Jung Min; Seong, Eun Young; Song, Sang Heon; Lee, Dong Won; Lee, Soo Bong; Kwak, Ihm Soo

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
The number of elderly individuals continues to increase, as does the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI). There are few data concerning the clinical features and prognosis in AKI in the elderly in Korea.
METHODS
Patients over 80 years old admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of AKI between January 2004 and December 2005 were evaluated. Etiology, clinical, and prognostic variables were analyzed.
RESULTS
The mean age was 82.6+/-2.2 years. The cause of AKI was dehydration (37.1%), infection (33.9%), bleeding (8.1%), contrast material (4.8%), drugs (4.8%), obstruction (3.2%), cardiogenic shock (3.2%), renal infarction (1.6%), rhabdomyolysis (1.6%), and hepatorenal syndrome (1.6%). The mortality rate was 29.0% and the major cause of death was pneumonia (50.0%). Based on the univariate analyses, albumin, serum sodium, number of failing organs, ventilatory support, need for a vasopressor, ICU care, sepsis, and infection were all significant factors discriminating between survivors and non-survivors (p<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
AKI in the elderly is not a different entity from that encountered in other age groups and age alone should never be a drawback to appropriate therapy.