• Doron Aronson, Haim Hammerman, Rafael Beyar, Sergey Yalonetsky, Michael Kapeliovich, Walter Markiewicz, and Alexander Goldberg.
• Department of Cardiology Rambam Medical Center, and Rappaport Medical School, Haifa, Israel. daronson@tx.technion.ac.il
• Int. J. Cardiol. 2008 Jul 21;127(3):380-5.

IntroductionRenal dysfunction is associated with increased mortality in acute coronary syndromes and other cardiovascular diseases. The prognostic value of kidney dysfunction has been investigated using creatinine-based measures of renal function. Few data are available on the prognostic significance of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), a sensitive marker of hemodynamic alterations and renal perfusion.MethodsThe relationship between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), BUN on admission and changes in BUN during hospital course and long-term mortality was evaluated in 1507 patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).ResultsDuring a median follow-up of 27 months (range, 12 to 44 months), 281 patients (18.6%) died. In multivariable Cox regression models, elevated BUN (>or=25 mg/dL) at admission was an independent predictor of mortality after adjustments for clinical variables and eGFR (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-2.3, P=0.0015). Similar results were obtained for elevated BUN/creatinine ratio (>or=25) at admission (adjusted HR 2.0; 95% CI 1.4-2.8; P<0.0001). An increase in BUN 50% above admission value occurred in 260 of patients (17.3%) during hospital course, and was associated with increased risk of mortality after adjustments of clinical variables, eGFR and BUN on admission (HR, 1.7 95% CI 1.3-2.2; P<0.0001).DiscussionElevated BUN and BUN/creatinine ratio on admission are independent predictors of long-term mortality in patients with STEMI. An increase in BUN level during hospital course portends adverse outcome independent of eGFR and BUN on admission.

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