Fang NW, Chen YC, Ou SH, et al. - Findings demonstrate a high incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) among patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). The steps that may benefit kidney function in this population are: early detection of CKD and prompt corrective heart surgery for CHD.

• This study involved 359 CHD patients, of whom 167 (46.5%) developed CKD.

• Those with CKD were further grouped into clinically recognized CKD (n=18) (CR-CKD, defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73m ² , urine protein-to-creatinine ratio >0.5, or urine microalbumin-to-creatinine ratio >30 mg/g) and non-clinically recognized CKD (n=341) (NCR-CKD).

• Significantly older age at enrollment was evident in patients with CR-CKD vs those with NCR-CKD.

• There may be a protective impact of corrective heart surgery against the development of CKD.

• Certain factors may be linked with CKD such as cyanotic heart disease, two or more image-related contrast exposures, and diuretic use.