According to the results of PROTECT-TAVI, the use of RenalGuard during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedures is associated with a significant reduction in in post-procedural acute kidney injury compared with standard treatment. The study, by Marco Barbanti, (Ferrarotto Hospital, University of Catania, Catania, Italy) and others, has been published in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.
In the study, 112 patients undergoing TAVI who were capable of receiving RenalGuard therapy, regardless of underlying kidney function, were enrolled. Use of the system was associated with a rate of 5.4% of post-procedural acute kidney injury compared with a rate of 25% for standard care. In patients who did not have pre-existing kidney disease (eGFR >60), the use of RenalGuard reduced the incidence of post-procedural acute kidney injury from 18% to 0%.
A press release reports that RenalGuard measures a patient’s urine output and automatically infuses hydration fluid based on that urine output. It adds that the system is designed to induce high urine rates, which have been shown to protect the kidney from a range of insults. The PROTECT-TAVI study follows a number of other studies that have demonstrated RenalGuard’s ability to protect patients from acute kidney injury following catheterization procedures when compared to the standard of care.
Richard Solomon, director of Nephrology at University of Vermont Medical Center and one of the primary investigators for the US pivotal trial of RenalGuard, says: “TAVI can be a life changing procedure for many patients with severe aortic stenosis. Several reports have demonstrated that developing acute kidney injury following TAVI significantly worsens long-term outcomes compared to those who do not suffer kidney damage, including increased mortality and higher health care costs. These results show that the use of RenalGuard can protect patients from the multi-factorial causes of acute kidney injury following TAVI, which should improve their long-term outcomes.”
