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The study, which was led by Weisbord and included nearly 5,000 patients, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine after the presentation to international AHA members in Anaheim,

California.

“The findings have implications every time someone with kidney disease in any hospital in the U.S. or worldwide undergoes angiograms,” said Weisbord. “That’s a substantial number of people

and includes those with diabetes and chronic kidney disease.”

The research compared two different types of intravenous fluids and evaluated an anti-oxidant, Nacetylcysteine, that are commonly used during the angiograms. It was believed that intravenous

fluid made up of sodium bicarbonate and N-acetylcysteine helped to prevent contrast-associated kidney injury for those at risk. As it turned out, these treatments were not better than

simply using intravenous saline (salt solution).

“Saline solution alone should be the standard of care for the procedure,” said Weisbord.

“Dozens of research trials over the years have looked at the interventions studied in this research,” Weisbord said, “But there were never enough patients to draw definitive conclusions for

the interventions being used in clinical practice,” Weisbord said.

“VA provided the infrastructure to construct this large-scale clinical trial. This research will provide an evidence basis and define the appropriate care that is delivered to millions of

patients in the U.S. and worldwide.”