New Mathematical Model to Predict Kidney Injury Developed

A machine learning model, a type of AI, for estimating patients' risk of acute kidney injury before their heart procedure has been developed.

In patients with a common heart procedure, a new mathematical model that helps predict the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) has been developed by Yale-led group of doctors.

The new tool will enable doctors to make better pre-procedure estimates of risk and provide more personalized estimates for how much contrast material can safely be used when inserting stents in blocked or narrowed blood vessels near the heart, the researchers said. A new study describing the research appears in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Acute Renal (Kidney) Failure- Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Complications
Acute renal failure is the sudden cessation of the functioning of kidneys, that can be due to reduced renal blood flow, damage to renal tissues.

‘For patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), commonly known as angioplasty, exposure to contrast agents -- material used in the procedure to help visualize blood vessels -- can harm the kidneys.’

"The previous models assumed that the exposure to contrast produced the same risk for everyone, but it is not one-size-fits-all. There are individual differences," said Harlan Krumholz, M.D., cardiologist and director of the Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE).

For the new study, the researchers developed a machine learning model, a type of artificial intelligence, for estimating patients' risk of AKI before their heart procedure, while also accounting for the complexity of associations between contrast levels and AKI in different risk groups. The new model was then able to predict AKI risk injury more accurately than previous models, the researchers said.

Previous tools to estimate risk have not employed modern mathematical approaches or included information about the patients and their contrast exposure, they noted.

Quiz on Kidney
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist, and are located just below the rib cage, one on each side of your spine.

Healthy kidneys filter about half a cup of blood every minute, removing wastes and extra water to make urine. The urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder through two thin tubes of muscle called ureters, one on each side of your bladder. The bladder stores urine. The kidneys, ureters, and bladder are partof the urinary tract.

kidneys remove wastes and extra fluid from your body. Kidneys also remove acid that is produced by the cells of your body and maintain a healthy balance of water, salts, and minerals-such as sodium, calcium, phosphorus and potassium-in your blood ().

Without this balance, nerves, muscles, and other tissues in the body may not work normally.

Kidneys also make hormones that help

Control your blood pressure
Make red blood cells
Keep your bones strong and healthy

"We determined that their associations with the risk of kidney injury are quite complex. The range of contrast levels you're considering matters, and the baseline risk level for a particular patient matters, too," said Chenxi Huang, an associate research scientist at Yale and first author of the study.

Source-Eurekalert

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
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