Biomarkers for the prediction of acute kidney injury: a narrative review on current status and future challenges

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is strongly associated with increased morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Efforts to change its clinical course have failed because clinically available therapeutic measures are currently lacking, and early detection is impossible with serum creatinine (SCr). The demand for earlier markers has prompted the discovery of several candidates to serve this purpose. In this paper, we review available biomarker studies on the early predictive performance in developing AKI in adult critically ill patients. We make an effort to present the results from the perspective of possible clinical utility.