PhD student University of Parma PARMA, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Abstract: Background –Dogs with acute congestive heart failure (CHF) due to myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) can develop acute kidney injury (AKI); its characterization and prevalence have not been clearly defined.
Hypothesis/Objectives – To assess the occurrence of AKI in hospitalized dogs with acute CHF and the role of urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) as a predictive marker of AKI in this setting.
Animals – Thirty MMVD dogs with acute CHF.
Methods – Multicentric, prospective observational study. Type and dosage of diuretics administered, serum and urinary chemistry including uNGAL and uNGAL to urinary creatinine ratio (uNGALC) were determined at time of admission, after 24 and 48 hours. Continuous variables were compared using Friedman test. Mann-Whitney test was used to compare AKI vs. non-AKI dogs (P< 0.05).
Results – Nineteen dogs (63%) developed AKI according to International Renal Interest Society grading: 10/19 (53%) grade I, 7/19 (37%) grade II and 2/19 dogs (10%) grade III. At admission, 16/30 dogs had increased uNGAL and 23/30 had increased uNGALC, of which 10/16 (62.5%) and 15/23 (65.2%) developed AKI, respectively. No significant differences were documented for creatinine, uNGAL, uNGALC at admission and diuretic dosage between dogs that developed AKI vs. dogs that did not developed AKI. Urinary NGAL and uNGALC were not different at the considered time points (Table 1, 2).
Conclusions and clinical importance –In our population of MMVD dogs with acute CHF, AKI is a frequent finding not correlated with diuretic dosage. The role of NGAL and its prognostic value needs further investigations.
