Non-Dialysis CKD Patients Have Increased Sepsis Risk

ALBERTA, Canada—Chronic kidney disease (CKD) not treated with dialysis is associated with an increased risk for bloodstream infection and mortality after community-onset bloodstream infection in older adults, according a study in the Nov. 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"Patients with end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis are at high risk for bloodstream infection and infection-related death," wrote Matthew T. James, MD, from University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, and colleagues from the Alberta Kidney Disease Network. "Whether patients with chronic kidney disease who are not receiving dialysis are also at increased risk of bloodstream infection is less clear."

Researchers evaluated the association between CKD not being treated with dialysis and bloodstream infection in a cohort of patients aged at least 66 years who had at least one outpatient serum creatinine measurement. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated with use of the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study equation.