Evaluation of UDP-glucose as a Urinary Biomarker for Early Detection of Cardiac Surgery-associated Pediatric Acute Kidney Injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in children after cardiac surgery with a reported incidence of 20-40%. Pediatric AKI has been found to be associated with important short and long-term adverse outcomes. A major challenge to management of AKI after cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass is the lack of early diagnostic markers. Current diagnostic criteria for AKI in children relies exclusively on elevation of serum creatinine concentration and oliguria. Both of these markers lack sensitivity and specificity, and result in delayed detection of kidney injury. This study aims to determine if UDP-glucose can be used as a urinary biomarker to detect subclinical acute kidney injury following pediatric cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.