Fibrinogen-to-Albumin Ratio Predicts Postcontrast Acute Kidney Injury in Patients with Non-ST Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome after Implantation of Drug-Eluting Stents

Abstract

Background. Postcontrast acute kidney injury (PC-AKI) is an adverse reaction to iodinated contrast agents. In this study, we investigated the use of fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR) as a novel inflammatory marker to track the development and progression of PC-AKI in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) after the implantation of drug-eluting stents (DESs). Methods. A total of 872 patients with NSTE-ACS were enrolled in this study. PC-AKI was identified when serum creatinine (SCr) levels increased >26.5 mol/L (0.3 mg/dL) or was 1.5 times the baseline level within 48–72 h of exposure to an iodinated contrast agent. The effects of different variables on PC-AKI were evaluated using univariate regression analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent predictors of PC-AKI. The predictive value of FAR was assessed by estimating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results. In total, 114 (13.1%) patients developed PC-AKI. The patients with PC-AKI had lower albumin levels ((Formula presented.) vs. (Formula presented.), (Formula presented.)), higher fibrinogen levels ((Formula presented.) vs. (Formula presented.), (Formula presented.)), and higher FAR levels ((Formula presented.) vs. (Formula presented.), (Formula presented.)) than those with non-PC-AKI. There were no significant differences in the preoperative SCr levels between the two groups. After adjusting for confounding factors, FAR was found to be an independent predictor of PC-AKI ((Formula presented.), 95% (Formula presented.), (Formula presented.)). ROC analysis revealed that for PC-AKI prediction, the area under the curve for FAR was 0.702. The optimum cut-off value of FAR was 10.0, with a sensitivity of 64.9% and a specificity of 69.8%. Moreover, FAR had a higher predictive value for PC-AKI than the Mehran score (0.702 vs. 0.645). Conclusion. Our study showed that elevated preoperative FAR was closely associated with the development of PC-AKI in patients with NSTE-ACS after implantation of DESs. Therefore, it may be worth monitoring FAR as a guide for using preventive measures to avoid the development of PC-AKI.