The Urine Albumin-Creatinine Ratio and Kidney Function after Nephrectomy.

Patients with kidney cancer are at risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) after radical and partial nephrectomy. We sought to determine if the urine albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR) is independently associated with progressive CKD after nephrectomy.

We performed a cohort study based within a large, integrated health care system. We identified patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy from 2004 to 2014 with UACR measured in the 12 months prior to surgery. We fit multivariable models to determine if the UACR was associated with the time to CKD progression (defined as reaching stage 4 or 5 CKD, eGFR <30 mL/min/1.73m²). We performed a parallel analysis measuring the time to stage 3b, 4 or 5 CKD (eGFR <45 mL/min/1.73m²) among patients with normal or near-normal preoperative kidney function (eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m²). We also examined the association between UACR and survival.

1930 patients underwent radical or partial nephrectomy and had preoperative UACR and pre- and post-operative eGFR. Of these, 658 (34%) and 157 (8%) had moderate (UACR 30-300mg/g) or severe albuminuria (UACR > 300mg/g), respectively. Albuminuria severity was independently associated with progressive CKD after radical (moderate albuminuria HR 1.7, 95%CI 1.4-2.2; severe albuminuria HR 2.3, 95%CI 1.7-3.1) and partial nephrectomy (moderate albuminuria HR 1.8, 95%CI 1.2-2.7; severe albuminuria HR 4.3, 95%CI 2.7-7.0). Albuminuria was also associated with survival following radical and partial nephrectomy.In patients undergoing radical or partial nephrectomy, the severity of albuminuria can stratify risk of progressive CKD.