Predicting risk of kidney disease in patients with heart failure with and without heart surgery

Associate Professor Yugeesh Lankadeva, The University of Melbourne

2023 Vanguard Grant - Two Year

Years funded: 2024 - 2025

Survivors of a heart attack frequently develop heart failure. These individuals often require heart surgery as part of their treatment to improve their heart health. However, heart surgery in the presence of heart failure is associated with increased risk of kidney disease. Not every patient with heart failure that undergoes heart surgery will develop kidney disease. However, those that do will have a prolonged hospital stay, increased risk of death and higher risk of requiring long-term dialysis that diminishes their quality of life. Currently, there are no diagnostic tests to predict which heart failure patients will develop kidney complications before or after heart surgery and therefore no way of directing treatments to prevent them. We have developed a world-first preclinical model of heart attack-induced heart failure that we can take through heart surgery. We have also developed a new clinical diagnostic test to predict the risk of kidney disease. This project will determine whether our new diagnostic test can predict risk of kidney disease in heart failure before and after heart surgery.