Swedish Covenant Hospital Among First To Deploy Novel Test to Combat Acute Kidney Injury Risk

SAN DIEGO, June 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Astute Medical, Inc., developer of biomarkers for better healthcare, today announced that Swedish Covenant Hospital is one of a rapidly growing number of hospitals in the United States, and among the first in Chicago, to begin using a first-of-its-kind risk assessment test for acute kidney injury (AKI), a stealthy, time-sensitive and potentially deadly condition that is a common complication in critically ill patients.

"Astute Medical's NephroCheck^® Test will allow Swedish Covenant clinicians to more quickly identify patients at risk of developing AKI so they can intervene earlier and reduce the threat of irreparable kidney damage," said Eric Gluck, M.D., a pulmonologist and critical care specialist at the hospital. "Currently, most hospitals rely on renal tests that detect changes in kidney function, however these changes may not be evident until injury to the kidney has already occurred."

AKI is known to strike in up to half of critically ill patients¹ and has been linked to a tenfold increase in mortality.² Like a "silent" heart attack, the condition lacks obvious signs and symptoms.³ Delays in recognition can lead to chronic kidney disease,⁴ kidney disease requiring dialysis,⁴ heart disease⁴ or death.⁵ Early knowledge that a patient is likely to develop AKI may prompt closer patient surveillance and help prevent permanent kidney damage or death.⁶

"I'm excited that we can now proactively address AKI using these new biomarkers, which have been shown to be helpful in improving patient outcomes by identifying those at risk for the condition," said Dr. Gluck. "Doctors have always accepted AKI as inevitable in some critically ill patients, and now that does not have to be the case."

The test quantitatively measures two urinary biomarkers – tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP-2) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP-7), which have been related to early kidney stress.⁷ In high-risk hospital patients, this stress can signal a future threat of moderate to severe AKI. 

About Astute Medical, Inc.
Astute Medical is dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with high-risk medical conditions and diseases through the identification and validation of protein biomarkers that can serve as the basis for novel diagnostic tests.

The Company's focus is community- and hospital-acquired acute conditions that require rapid diagnosis and risk assessment. Astute Medical's current areas of interest include abdominal pain, acute coronary syndromes, cerebrovascular injury, kidney injury and sepsis.

Astute Medical is a founding corporate partner of 0by25, a human rights initiative aimed at eliminating preventable and treatable deaths from AKI worldwide by 2025.

For additional information, please visit AstuteMedical.com.

Astute Medical^®, the AM logo, Astute140^®, NephroCheck^®, the NephroCheck^® logo, and AKIRisk^® are registered trademarks of Astute Medical, Inc. in the United States. For information regarding trademarks and other intellectual property applicable to this product, including international trademarks, please see astutemedical.com/US/About/IntellectualProperty/.  PN0647 Rev A 2017/06/16

¹ Mandelbaum T, Scott DJ, Lee J, et al. Outcome of critically ill patients with acute kidney injury using the AKIN criteria. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2659-2664. 
² Dasta JF, Kane-Fill SL, Durtschi, AJ, Pathak DS, Kellum JA. Costs and outcomes of acute kidney injury (AKI) following cardiac surgery. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2008;23:1970-1974. 
³ Ronco C, Ricci Z. The concept of risk and the value of novel markers of acute kidney injury. Crit Care. 2013;17:117-118. 
⁴ Chawla LS, Eggers PW, Star RA, Kimmel PL. Acute Kidney Injury and Chronic Kidney Disease as Interconnected Syndromes. N Engl J Med. 2014;371:58-66. 
⁵ Hobson C, Ozrazgat-Baslanti T, Kuxhausen A, et al. Cost and mortality associated with postoperative acute kidney injury. Ann Surg. 2014;00:1-8. 
⁶ Lewington AJ, Cerdá J, Mehta RL. Raising awareness of acute kidney injury: a global perspective of a silent killer. Kidney Int. 2013;84(3):457-467. 
⁷ Kellum JA, Chawla LS. Cell-cycle arrest and acute kidney injury: the light and dark sides. Nephrol Dial Transplant. (2015) 0: 1–7doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfv130.

SOURCE Astute Medical, Inc.

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