Objective: To evaluate the current prophylactic strategies against CIN in patients with STEMI treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Background: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is the third leading course of acute renal failure and a recognized complication to cardiac catheterization. CIN is associated with increased risk of cardiac adverse events and mortality, and recent studies point at the risk of developing a transient or persistent renal dysfunction. Patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention have a markedly increased risk of developing CIN. At present no strategy is universally accepted in the prevention of CIN in the acute setting of primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Method: We performed a systematic search in Pubmed and EMBASE and ended up including nine randomised clinical trials; six studies of N-acetylcysteine, one study of early and late hydration regimens, one study of recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide and one study comparing a low-osmolar contrast agent with an iso-osmolar contrast agent. Results: Recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide and the regimens of hydration significantly reduced the incidence of CIN and administration of N-acetylcysteine in one of the six studies significantly reduced the occurrence of CIN. The iso-osmolar contrast agent was not proven to be superior to the low-osmolar contrast agent in terms of preventing CIN. Conclusion: Preliminary studies are promising but further studies are needed before any prevention strategy against CIN can be recommended in routine care of patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention for STEMI. (J Interven Cardiol 2012;**:1-9).