Background: The association between acute cholangitis (AC) and acute kidney injury (AKI) remains unclear. We investigated the incidence, and clinical course of AKI in patients with AC, and the long-term prognosis.
Methods: We performed a single-center retrospective study of patients hospitalized with AC in a tertiary care center from January 2011 to December 2017. The risk factors for AKI were evaluated, and AKI severity was analyzed using the Systemic Inflammatory Response System (SIRS), quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) score, and 2018 Tokyo Guidelines (TG) grade. To calculate the relative risk of death based on AKI, hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained using Cox's proportional hazard models.
Results: A total of 1,438 patients with AC were included, of whom 18.2% (n = 261) developed AKI. AKI patients were older, and had a lower systolic blood pressure and more comorbidities including hypertension (HT), chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular accidents. Disease severity (as assessed by SIRS, qSOFA, and the Tokyo Guidelines grade) was higher in the AKI group, as was the in-hospital mortality rate. Multivariate analysis revealed that age, HT, SIRS and qSOFA scores ≥ 2, and TG grade of III were significant risk factors for AKI. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed significantly higher mortality in the AKI than non-AKI group. AKI (HR = 1.853; 95% CI: 1.115-3.079) and TG grade III (HR = 2.139; 95% CI: 1.190-3,846) were independent predictors of all-cause AC mortality, even after adjusting for all covariates. The annual rate of decline in the estimated glomerular filtration rate was faster in the AKI than non-AKI group (2.9 ± 6.7 vs. 0.5 ± 5.3 mL/min/1.73 m2/year, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: AKI development increased AC severity and mortality. Our results suggest that clinicians should monitor AKI status and perform appropriate management as soon as possible.