• Didem Turgut, Serhan Vahit Pişkinpaşa, Ezgİ Çoşkun Yenigün, Nihal Aydemir, and Fatih Dede.
• Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Başkent University Ankara Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
• Turk J Med Sci. 2020 Oct 22; 50 (6): 1566-1572.

Background/AimNeutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is used previously to estimate the etiology, severity, and clinical outcomes of acute kidney injury (AKI). However, the role of urinary NGAL (uNGAL) in the postrenal setting is not clear. In our study, we aimed to discover the cut-off value of uNGAL that can be used in the differential diagnosis of underlying AKI etiologies.Materials And MethodsIn this prospective cross-sectional study, we examined 82 subjects in four groups: patients that had (1) postrenal AKI; (2) AKI other than postrenal etiologies; (3) stable chronic kidney disease; and (4) healthy subjects. A renal function assessment was carried out by measuring serum creatinine (sCr) and uNGAL at the time of diagnosis [0th min (T0)]. We followed the study group for three months.ResultsAt the time of diagnosis, sCr (T0) was highest in the postrenal AKI and AKI groups in contrast to stable chronic kidney disease patients and healthy subjects (P < 0.001), as expected. T0 median uNGAL was highest in the postrenal group (P < 0.001). Area under curve (AUC) of uNGAL to estimate postrenal AKI presence was 0.957 (95% CI, 0.897–1.000; P < 0.001). The cut-off point of uNGAL was 42.625 ng/mL for this estimation.ConclusionPatients with AKI must be classified according to the underlying etiologies as soon as possible. uNGAL may be useful to estimate the etiologies, and whether the problem is acute or chronic in the course. In postrenal kidney problems, to plan the urgency of the urologic procedures, it is crucial.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

21 keywords...

hide…