Purpose: We evaluated the blood urea nitrogen (BUN)/albumin (B/A) ratio in patients with acute cholangitis to determine the prognostic significance of the B/A ratio as a marker of early mortality in critically ill patients with acute cholangitis.
Method: We retrospectively analyzed medical records in two emergency departments (ED) and screened eligible adult patients who were admitted to the ED with acute cholangitis. The B/A ratio was evaluated as the BUN value divided by albumin level on each hospital day. The clinical outcome was mortality after 28 days.
Results: A total of 461 patients with acute cholangitis were included in this study. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models showed that higher B/A ratio on ED admission (day 1) (Hazard Ratio (HR): 1.182; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.076-1.298, p<0.001) and day 4 (HR: 1.192; 95% CI: 1.019-1.395, p=0.028) were independent risk factors for mortality at 28 days. Our study showed that the increased 28-day mortality was associated with a B/A ratio >6.83 on day 1 (HR: 4.065; 95% CI: 4.123-43.737, p<0.001) and a higher B/A ratio (>6.26) on day 4 (HR: 7.16; 95% CI: 1.412-36.333, p=0.018) in patients with acute cholangitis.
Conclusion: The ratio of BUN to albumin on ED admission is a promising prognostic marker of 28-day mortality in patients with acute cholangitis.