Excess Risk of Major Adverse Cardiovascular and Kidney Events after Acute Kidney Injury following Living Donor Liver Transplantation

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a well-known risk factor for major adverse kidney events (MAKE) and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in nontransplant settings. However, the association between AKI after liver transplantation (LT) and MACE/MAKE is not established. A retrospective cohort analysis including 512 LT recipients was conducted. The incidence of post-LT AKI was 35.0% (n = 179). In total, 13 patients (2.5%) developed de novo coronary artery disease (CAD), 3 patients (0.6%) diagnosed with heart failure (HF), and 11 patients (2.1%) had stroke. The post-LT AKI group showed a higher incidence of CAD and HF than the no post-LT AKI group (4.5% versus 1.5%, p = 0.042; 1.7% versus 0%, p = 0.018; respectively), while there was no significant difference in the stroke events (2.8% versus 1.8%, p = 0.461). Through Cox regression analysis, history of cardiovascular disease (HR 6.51, 95% CI 2.43–17.46), post-LT AKI (HR 3.06, 95% CI 1.39–6.75), and pre-LT diabetes (HR 2.37, 95% CI 1.09–5.17) were identified as independent predictors of MACE; pre-LT chronic kidney disease (HR 9.54, 95% CI 3.49–26.10), pre-LT diabetes (HR 3.51, 95% CI 1.25–9.86), and post-LT AKI (HR 6.76, 95% CI 2.19–20.91) were risk factors for end-stage renal disease. Post-LT AKI is predictive for the development of MACE and MAKE.