Clinical outcomes after complex and high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention according to baseline chronic kidney disease.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with unfavorable outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, its prognostic role in patients undergoing complex high-risk PCI (CHIP) remains unexplored, prompting our investigation.

Methods: Consecutive CHIP patients treated at a tertiary care center from 2012 to 2022 were included in the current analysis. CHIP was identified by the presence of at least one patient and one procedural criterion from a validated score. Patients were stratified by CKD status, with CKD defined as eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73m. The primary endpoint was one-year incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including all-cause mortality, spontaneous myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke. A multivariable Cox regression model was computed adjusted for relevant baseline risk factors and comorbidities.

Results: Among 4855 CHIP patients, 39.6% (n = 1925) had CKD at baseline. CKD patients were older, with more comorbidities, and complex CAD. After multivariable adjustment, CKD was associated with increased 1-year risks of MACE (primarily driven by all-cause mortality and MI rates), and bleeding. In-hospital adjusted hazards for ischemic and bleeding events were similar between the two cohorts, while CA-AKI occurred twice as often in CKD patients compared to non-CKD ones.

Conclusions: In CHIP patients, CKD is a strong predictor of ischemic and bleeding events at one-year follow-up and doubles the risk of post-procedural CA-AKI, underscoring the need for tailored risk assessment and management of this vulnerable population.