Venous excess ultrasound score and acute kidney injury in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Aims: Systemic venous congestion is associated with an increased risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill patients. Venous Excess Ultrasound Score (VExUS) has been proposed as a non-invasive score to assess systemic venous congestion. We aimed to evaluate the association between VExUS and AKI in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
Methods and Results: This is a prospective study including patients with the diagnosis of ACS (both ST elevation and non-ST elevation ACS). VExUS was performed during the first 24 h of hospital stay. Patients were classified according to the presence of systemic congestion (VExUS 0/≥1). The primary objective of the study was to determine the occurrence of AKI, defined by KDIGO criteria. A total of 77 patients were included. After ultrasound assessment, 31 (40.2%) patients were categorized as VExUS ≥1. VExUS ≥1 was more frequently found in inferior vs. anterior myocardial infarction/non-ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (48.3 vs. 25.8 and 22.5%, P = 0.031). At each increasing degree of VExUS, a higher proportion of patients developed AKI: VExUS = 0 (10.8%), VExUS = 1 (23.8%), VExUS = 2 (75.0%), and VExUS = 3 (100%; P < 0.001). A significant association between VExUS ≥1 and AKI was found [odds ratio (OR): 6.75, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.21-23.7, P = 0.001]. After multivariable analysis, only VExUS ≥1 (OR: 6.15; 95% CI: 1.26-29.94, P = 0.02) remained significantly associated with AKI.
Conclusion: In patients hospitalized with ACS, VExUS is associated with the occurrence of AKI. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of VExUS assessment in patients with ACS.
Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: A.A.-M. has received institutional research grants from Novo Nordisk, Boehringer Ingelheim, CSL Behring, and reports speaking fees from Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Servier, and Sanofi. R.G.-N. reports speaking fees from Novartis. J.L.B.-D.l.C. reports speaking fees from Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Menarini, and Sanofi. D.S.-L.M. reports speaking fees from Bayer and Novo Nordisk. D.A.-G. has received institutional research grants from Novartis and reports speaking fees from Abbott, Asofarma, Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eurofarma, Merck, Medix, Novartis, and Servier. All other authors report no pertinent conflicts of interest.
(© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)