N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide and the risk of acute kidney injury after lung cancer surgery

As of recent, a growing attention is being paid to the importance of preoperatively evaluating patients prior to lung resection. Indeed, numerous studies have sought to identify reliable predictors of patients who are at a high risk of developing postoperative complications. In fact, despite recent improvements in diagnosis, staging and treatment (1,2), postoperative complications remain a frequent and demanding challenge for general thoracic surgeons in their daily practice, being responsible for longer hospital stays and higher overall patient costs (3). B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in major non-cardiac surgery has already been investigated and results have suggested its value in predicting cardiopulmonary complications (4-7). However, the influence of acute kidney injury (AKI) has not been thoroughly investigated