WASHINGTON, May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past
decade, experts' understanding of testing for acute kidney injury
(AKI) has evolved significantly, but current medical practice has
not yet caught up with the latest research in this area. AACC has
therefore issued a new guidance document on AKI that provides
laboratory and other healthcare professionals with the most up to
date best practices for diagnosing and managing this potentially
fatal condition.
Read the guidance document here:
http://www.aacc.org/science-and-research/aacc-academy-guidance/laboratory-investigation-of-acute-kidney-injury
AKI, which is defined as a sudden episode of kidney damage or
failure, is a condition that affects up to 15% of hospitalized
patients and can lead to serious complications or death. A wide
range of causes can trigger AKI—from major surgical procedures to
medications that affect kidney function—and its symptoms can vary
depending on the underlying cause, making it a challenging
condition to diagnose and treat. It is therefore essential that
clinical laboratory professionals and clinicians know what the
right tools are for diagnosing AKI. However, current approaches to
detecting this condition differ widely throughout the medical
community due to factors such as inconsistent integration of new
findings on AKI into clinical practice. This has led to
considerable disparities in the identification and management of
AKI around the world, and underscores the need for a uniform set of
best practices on testing for this condition.
To improve AKI patient care and outcomes, a multidisciplinary
group of clinical laboratory experts and nephrologists formed by
AACC's Academy have developed evidence-based guidance on laboratory
testing for AKI. One of the guidance's major recommendations
addresses a shortcoming of the current criteria for diagnosing AKI
with creatinine testing (the primary test for this condition),
which were established by the 2012 Kidney Disease Improving Global
Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines. Recent studies have linked use of the
KDIGO diagnostic criteria with a high rate of false-positive AKI
diagnoses. To remedy this, AACC's guidance proposes using new
diagnostic thresholds, known as the 20/20 AACC AKI criteria, to
determine whether a patient has AKI with creatinine testing. The
use of these new criteria is supported by strong evidence from a
study of 14,912 adult patients.
AACC's guidance document also covers when to test for AKI; other
best practices for creatinine testing; the utility of other tests
used to identify the cause of AKI and guide treatment; and the
utility of new tests for AKI, including a machine-learning based
approach for predicting the development of this condition in
patients.
"Our understanding of and tools used for detecting AKI have both
evolved since KDIGO was published in 2012," said the guidance's
lead authors, Drs. Joe M. El-Khoury
and Chirag R. Parikh. "The
information and opinions provided within this document are intended
to shed light on the current status of the field and generate a
healthy debate with clinical organizations that leads to a
much-needed update to our current practice of investigating AKI.
Clinicians and laboratorians should work together to implement [our
findings and recommendations]."
About AACC
Dedicated to achieving better health through laboratory medicine,
AACC brings together more than 50,000 clinical laboratory
professionals, physicians, research scientists, and business
leaders from around the world focused on clinical chemistry,
molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, translational medicine,
lab management, and other areas of progressing laboratory science.
Since 1948, AACC has worked to advance the common interests of the
field, providing programs that advance scientific collaboration,
knowledge, expertise, and innovation. For more information, visit
www.aacc.org.
Christine DeLong
AACC
Senior Manager, Communications & PR
(p) 202.835.8722
cdelong@aacc.org
Molly Polen
AACC
Senior Director, Communications & PR
(p) 202.420.7612
(c) 703.598.0472
mpolen@aacc.org
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SOURCE AACC