Early detection and targeted blood purification could prevent kidney failure in ICU patients, new review finds

Acute kidney injury (AKI) remains one of the most dangerous complications in intensive care units (ICUs), affecting up to half of critically ill patients and significantly increasing mortality.  Yet a common and preventable form of AKI, cast nephropathy, often goes unnoticed until kidney damage is severe.  A new narrative review published in the Journal of Intensive Medicine highlights how earlier recognition and targeted extracorporeal blood purification strategies could dramatically improve kidney recovery and survival for patients with cast-related AKI.

Why Cast Nephropathy Is Often Missed
Cast nephropathy occurs when proteins or pigments circulating in the blood, such as free light chains in multiple myeloma, myoglobin from muscle breakdown, bilirubin in severe liver disease, or hemoglobin from intravascular hemolysis, precipitate within kidney tubules. These substances form obstructive plugs called casts, triggering oxidative stress, inflammation, and ultimately kidney failure. Traditional markers of kidney damage such as serum creatinine and urine output rise late in the disease process. By the time they change, significant kidney injury has already occurred.

A Shift Toward Earlier Diagnosis
The review emphasizes the growing importance of novel biomarkers, including NGAL, cystatin-C, and the cell-cycle arrest marker panel (TIMP-2·IGFBP7), which can detect tubular stress hours or days before conventional tests. "Early kidney injury occurs silently," the authors write. "Biomarkers allow us to act while damage is still reversible rather than after irreversible scarring has begun." These tests could guide earlier decisions about therapy, especially when kidney biopsy is too risky due to coagulopathy or patient instability.

Precision Extracorporeal Therapies — Not One-Size-Fits-All
One of the central messages of the review is that the molecule causing cast formation matters and extracorporeal strategies should be tailored accordingly.

Extracorporeal therapies work best, the authors stress, when paired with disease-specific treatment, such as chemotherapy for myeloma or complement blockade for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

Toward AI-Guided Personalized Kidney Support
The review also points toward a future where artificial intelligence could combine laboratory values, biomarkers, and imaging to flag cast-associated AKI before symptoms appear. "These tools could allow extracorporeal options to evolve from rescue therapies into proactive protective strategies," the authors note.

A Call for Earlier Intervention and Clinical Trials
Although promising devices exist, evidence is still fragmented, and clinical practices vary widely between centers. The authors call for standardized biomarker-guided pathways and multicenter trials comparing early versus late extracorporeal intervention. Their proposed clinical message: recognize cast nephropathy early, treat the cause aggressively, and deploy tailored extracorporeal support before irreversible damage occurs.

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Reference
DOI: 10.1016/j.jointm.2025.10.006

About Professor Silvia De Rosa, MD
Prof. De Rosa specializes in anesthesia, critical care medicine, and extracorporeal blood purification. Her clinical and academic work focuses on translating advanced extracorporeal technologies and predictive biomarkers into real-world ICU practice to prevent organ failure and improve survival. She collaborates with interdisciplinary teams in nephrology, biologists and biomedical engineering to develop personalized approaches for kidney protection.