Targeting Recovery from Acute Kidney Injury: Incidence and Prevalence of Recovery

Since the creation of Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss of Kidney Function, and End-Stage Renal Disease (RIFLE) criteria in the last 10 years, the use of a standardized definition of acute kidney injury (AKI) has made it possible for epidemiologic studies to document the increasing incidence of AKI, especially in the critical care setting. In addition, several studies applying the criteria of RIFLE, Acute Kidney Injury Network, and, more recently, the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcome, were able to establish the association of severity of AKI with adverse clinical outcomes, including the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Although, until recently, it was thought that survivors from an AKI episode frequently recover kidney function, cumulative observational data over the past decade have confirmed the association of AKI with the increased risk for permanent kidney damage, with subsequent development of CKD. The epidemiological studies that we will present and discuss in this review confirm and clarify the association of AKI with the development of CKD and ESRD.