Point-of-Care Ultrasonography and Worsening of Renal Function in Acute Heart Failure: A Cohort Study - Soret, G.; Leidi, A.; Leszek, A.; Marti, C.; Carballo, S.; Stirnemann, J.; Grosgurin, O.; Reny, J. L.; Mavrakanas, T. A. (2025)
INTRODUCTION: The goal of this study was to investigate the association between worsening renal function (WRF) and central venous pressure, right ventricular function, and lung fluid overload assessed by point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in hospitalized patients with acute heart failure (AHF). METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study including AHF adult inpatients, conducted in Geneva University Hospitals from October 2019 to March 2020. The primary outcome was WRF, defined by an increase in creatinine of >/=1.5 times from baseline value or an increase of >/=0.3 mg/dL between admission and day 4 to 6. Expert ultrasonographers used POCUS to examine lungs, inferior vena cava during spontaneous expiration (IVCe), and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) at admission. RESULTS: A total of 43 patients were included in the study. A total of 8 patients (19%) developed WRF during the study period (between October 8, 2019 and March 16, 2020), of whom 4 were in the higher quartile of lung fluid overload, 2 had TAPSE <14 mm, and 4 had IVCe >/= 21 mm. In uni- and multi-variate logistic regression model, neither admission IVCe nor TAPSE was associated with WRF. However, lung congestion, as assessed by the number of B-lines, was significantly associated with WRF (odds ratio [OR] per quartile = 2.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01 to 5.86, P = .04). This result remained statistically significant after adjustment for daily diuretic dose in mg/kg (OR = 2.98, 95% CI = 1.11 to 8.00, P = .03). CONCLUSION: This study showed that lung congestion as assessed by POCUS was associated with WRF in AHF patients, whereas IVCe and TAPSE were not. Due to the small number of participants, our results need to be prospectively validated in future adequately powered clinical trials.
Keywords: journalArticle; Bayer. He has also received operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of; Foundation of Canada. He is supported by a Fonds de Recherche Sante Quebec (FRSQ); Health Research, the Kidney Foundation of Canada, and the Heart and Stroke; J1 Clinician Scholar award and a Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and; National Training (KRESCENT) Program New Investigator Award; Novo Nordisk, and Servier outside the submitted work. He has also received a; Pfizer and has served on advisory boards for Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer, GSK,; Pocus; acute heart failure; acute kidney failure; has received speaker honoraria from Bayer, BMS Canada, Janssen, AstraZeneca, and; lung congestion; point-of-care ultrasonography; research grant from AstraZeneca and fellowship grants from Pfizer, Janssen, and; to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Professor T.A.M.