Figure 1

Risk for death among patients with AKI. The data were obtained in a recent review of 13 studies that used RIFLE criteria where patient level data on mortality were available for Risk, Injury and Failure patients, as well as those without AKI [3]. The review was conducted to establish a pooled estimate of risk ratio (RR) for mortality for patients of Risk, Injury or Failure classes compared with non-AKI patients. More than 71,000 patients were included in the analysis of published reports. With respect to non-AKI patients, there appeared to be a step-wise increase in RR for death going from Risk class (RR = 2.40) to Injury class (RR = 4.15) and to Failure class (RR = 6.37; P < 0.0001 for all). AKI, acute kidney injury; RIFLE, Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss and End-stage kidney disease.