Relationship between intraventricular hemorrhage and acute kidney injury in premature infants and its effect on neonatal mortality

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and acute kidney injury (AKI) are important neonatal morbidities in premature infants. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between IVH and AKI in premature infants and whether this association affects the incidence of neonatal mortality. Infants [gestational age (GA) ≤ 32 weeks; birth weight (BW) < 1500 g] were retrospectively evaluated in a large tertiary neonatal intensive care unit. Of 710 premature infants, 268 (37.7%) developed AKI. Infants with IVH were more likely to have AKI than those without IVH. Infants with severe IVH had a higher incidence of AKI than infants with mild IVH. Infants younger than 28 weeks with IVH were more likely to have AKI than those without IVH. An association between IVH grades and AKI stages was observed in the overall study population, in infants with GA < 28 weeks, and in infants with GA between 28 and 32 weeks. Mortality was increased 1.5 times in infants with IVH and AKI compared with that in infants with IVH but without AKI. Furthermore, mortality was increased in infants with IVH and AKI compared with infants without IVH or AKI. This study shows a direct relationship between the severity of IVH and the degree of AKI; both IVH and AKI increase the incidence of neonatal mortality.