Griffin BR, Teixeira JP, Ambruso S, et al. - Given the association of severe acute kidney injury (AKI) with infection and mortality, researchers examined whether stage 1 AKI following cardiac surgery would independently correlate with infection and mortality. They evaluated 1,620 adult patients who underwent non-emergent cardiac surgery at the University of Colorado Hospital from 2011 to 2017 in this retrospective propensity-score matched study. Among these patients, 293 patients (18.3%) experienced stage 1 AKI. Infection occurred in 20.9% of patients with stage 1 AKI vs 8.1% in the non-AKI group. Propensity-score matched analysis revealed an independent association of stage 1 AKI with increased infection, ICU length of stay (LOS), and hospital LOS. Findings emphasize implementing treatment strategies focusing on prevention, early recognition, and optimal medical management of AKI to reduce significant postoperative morbidity.