Clearance of Inflammatory Cytokines During Renal Replacement Therapy Using the EMIC®2 Filter

Clearance of Inflammatory Cytokines in Patients With Septic Acute Kidney Injury During Renal Replacement Therapy Using the EMIC®2 Filter

This study will be conducted in patients with sepsis and acute kidney injury needing renal replacement therapy.

The aim is to investigate whether continuous renal replacement therapy with the EMIC®2 filter leads to removal of pro-inflammatory middle molecular weight cytokines from the blood.

In patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) and sepsis requiring renal replacement therapy, the investigators aim to determine whether continuous veno-venous haemodialysis with an EMiC®2 filter leads to clearance of the following mediators Interleukin (IL) -1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-2, IL- 4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, Tissue necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Interferon gamma, Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and epidermal growth factor.

Inclusion Criteria:

• adult patients (≥18 years) in the Critical Care Unit with AKI and sepsis
• clinical decision that citrate based continuous veno-venous haemodialysis (CVVHD) is necessary

Exclusion Criteria:

• lack of consent
• pre-existing dialysis dependent renal failure
• life expectancy <24 hours
• patients with haemoglobin <7g/dL (unless transfused for clinical reasons)
• need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)