Impact of renal insufficiency on short- and long-term outcomes after cardiac surgery

Background — Renal insufficiency is highly prevalent in North America and has been established as a nontraditional risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease remains the primary cause of mortality in the general population and is often treated with coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). This population-based study aimed to determine the risk of nondialysis dependent renal insufficiency (RI) on the long-term outcomes of patients who undergo CABG.

Methods — Prospectively collected data from 26,506 patients were abstracted from the Cardiac Care Network database from 9 revascularization hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Multivariate regression analysis examined associations between preoperative RI and inhospital, 30-day, and 1-year mortality according to 3 levels of serum creatinine: <120 μmol/L (normal), 120 to 180 μmol/L (mild RI), and >180 μmil/L (moderate-severe RI) and 5 levels of creatinine clearance (Cockcroft-Gault): >100 mL/min (normal), 80 to 99 mL/min (mild impairment), 60 to 79 mL/min (mild-moderate impairment), 40 to 59 mL/min (moderate impairment), and <40 mL/min (severe impairment).

Results — The overall inhospital, 30-day, and 1-year mortality rates were 1.90%, 2.0%, and 4.5%, respectively. Patients with RI had greater overall comorbidity. After adjustment for confounding factors, RI was associated with the greater risk of both 30-day (odds ratio 3.7, 95% CI 2.3–5.8, P < .0001) and 1-year mortality (odds ratio 4.6, 95% CI 3.3–6.4, P < .0001).

Conclusion — Preoperative renal impairment should be recognized as a significant risk factor for mortality after CABG. A trend of increasing risk with severity of renal impairment was demonstrated for both 30-day and 1-year mortality in this large, population-based study.