Contrast associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) is defined as a sudden deterioration in renal function within 48 h following the intravascular administration of iodinated contrast medium[1]. CA-AKI may occur whether or not contrast medium was the cause of the deterioration, therefore being a correlative diagnosis. There is increasing evidence that the nephrotoxicity directly attributable to iodinated contrast media - i.e. contrast-induced AKI (CI-AKI) - has been exaggerated, and cardiac angiography studies likely overestimate the risk of CI-AKI for patients undergoing intravenous contrast-enhanced studies [2].
