Renal Macro- and Microcirculatory Perturbations in Acute Kidney Injury and Chronic Kidney Disease Associated with Heart Failure and Cardiac Surgery

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 50% of patients with heart failure. The pathophysiology of CKD in heart failure is proposed to be driven by macrocirculatory hemodynamic changes, including reduced cardiac output and elevated central venous pressure. However, our understanding of the renal microcirculation in heart failure and CKD remains limited. This is largely due to the lack of non-invasive techniques to assess the renal microcirculation in patients. Moreover, there is a lack …