Can Preoperative Parameters of Inflammation be Used to Predict Acute Kidney Injury in Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients? A Single-Center Retrospective Study

Introduction: Inflammation is one of the factors involved in the occurrence and progression of acute kidney injury (AKI). We evaluated the relationship between preoperative systemic inflammatory markers and early postoperative AKI development in pediatric liver transplantation (LT) patients. Methods: Data from 190 pediatric patients were retrospectively analyzed. The preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), and pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) levels were calculated. AKI was classified according to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes staging. Patients who did not develop AKI in the early postoperative period were classified as group 0, patients with stage 1 AKI were classified as group 1, and patients with stage 2-3 AKI were classified as group 2. The relationship between the inflammatory parameters and AKI was evaluated. Results: AKI developed in 20% of patients, and 16.31% of these patients had severe AKI. The NLR, SII, and PIV values were significantly higher in patients with severe AKI (p<0.001). Preoperative high PIV values were found to be an independent predictor of AKI development. Conclusion: High preoperative PIV values may be used as a predictive factor for the development of early AKI in patients undergoing pediatric LT.