Up to 30 percent of patients who have heart surgery will experience acute kidney injury (AKI), although the cause is not exactly understood by researchers. While these injuries typically cause no serious long-term damage, they can increase hospital stays by weeks – significantly delaying recovery.

WakeMed 1 of Only 3 Developing a Diagnostic Indicator

WakeMed’s Cardiovascular Surgery team is one of only three centers in the country involved in a national trial aimed at developing a diagnostic indicator for predicting AKI risk among cardiac surgery patients. The biomarker test would assist clinicians in optimizing surgical strategy and post-operative care to prevent CSA-AKI occurrence and improve patient outcomes.

WakeMed Enrolls the 100th Patient in the Clinical Trial

WakeMed recently enrolled our 100th patient into an ongoing Acute Kidney Injury trial – a milestone made more impressive given the impact of COVID-19 over the past year.

“The ability to predict acute kidney injury is potentially transformative in cardiac surgery and beyond,” said Dr. Judson Williams.

“Given the commonality and cost of this condition, the ability to predict its occurrence on a simple preoperative laboratory test would have a tremendous impact and we are thrilled to be a part of this study.”

More Patients Enrolling in the Ongoing Trial

The research team is still enrolling participants, which include patients over age 40 undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery who meet eligibility requirements.

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