Renin-Angiotensin System Blockade after Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) and Risk of Recurrent AKI

Background and objectives How to best medically manage patients who survived hospitalized AKI is unclear. Use of renin-angiotensin system blockers in this setting may increase risk of recurrent AKI. Design, setting, participants, & measurements This is a cohort study of 10,242 members of an integrated health care delivery system in Northern California who experienced AKI and survived a hospitalization between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2013. All study participants did not have prior heart failure or use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) up to 5 years prior. New receipt and time-updated exposure of ACE-Is/ARBs was identified on the basis of dispensed prescriptions found in outpatient health plan pharmacy databases. The main outcome of interest was subsequent episode of hospitalized AKI after discharge from an initial index hospitalization complicated by AKI. Recurrent AKI episode was defined using acute changes in serum creatinine concentrations. Marginal structural models were used to adjust for baseline and potential time-dependent confounders. Results Forty-seven percent of the study population had a documented eGFR Conclusions In this study of AKI survivors without heart failure, new use of ACE-I/ARB therapy was not independently associated with increased risk of recurrent hospitalized AKI.