Kidney injury in patients with heart failure-related cardiogenic shock: Results from an international, multicentre cohort study

AIMS: Heart failure-related cardiogenic shock (HF-CS) accounts for about half of CS cases, with a paucity of data regarding the role of kidney injury in this subset. This study aims to evaluate patient characteristics and outcome associated with renal function in patients with HF-CS.

METHODS AND RESULTS: In this multicentre, international, retrospective study, patients with HF-CS from 16 tertiary care centres in five countries were enrolled between 2010 and 2021. To investigate differences in clinical presentation, complications, and 30-day mortality, based on renal function, adjusted logistic and Cox regression models were fitted. Among 1010 HF-CS patients, the median age was 64 (interquartile range [IQR] 52-75) years, with 71.7% being male. Median baseline creatinine was 1.7 (IQR 1.2-2.5) mg/dl, corresponding to an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 41.0 (IQR 25.2-62.2) ml/min/1.73 m2. In patients with acute kidney injury (AKI), 30-day mortality increased with AKI stages (no AKI 41.7%, AKI stage 1 43.3%, AKI stage 2 50.0%, AKI stage 3 63.7%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] for AKI stage 3 1.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.56-2.48, p < 0.001). Similarly, severe renal dysfunction (eGFR ≤ median) was associated with a 21% higher 30-day mortality risk (61.0% vs. 40.1%; adjusted HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.20-1.84, p < 0.001). Sepsis and bleeding were associated with both AKI and renal dysfunction, even after adjustment.

CONCLUSIONS: In HF-CS, kidney injury is associated with higher 30-day mortality, potentially mediated by bleeding and sepsis. These findings support the consideration of kidney function as a prognostic marker and call for the development and evaluation of kidney-restoring adjunct interventions in HF-CS.