Conclusions
Accurate measurements of urine NGAL are obtained using the ARCHITECT platform. Urine NGAL is an early predictive biomarker of AKI severity after CPB.
Results
AKI developed in 99 patients (51%), but the diagnosis using serum creatinine was delayed by 2 to 3 d after CPB. In contrast, mean urine NGAL levels increased 15-fold within 2 h and by 25-fold at 4 and 6 h after CPB. For the 2-h urine NGAL measurement, the area under the curve was 0.95, sensitivity was 0.82, and the specificity was 0.90 for prediction of AKI using a cutoff value of 100 ng/ml. The 2-h urine NGAL levels correlated with severity and duration of AKI, length of stay, dialysis requirement, and death. Conclusions: Accurate measurements of urine NGAL are obtained using the ARCHITECT platform. Urine NGAL is an early predictive biomarker of AKI severity after CPB.