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Chronic kidney disease is a worldwide problem that carries a substantial risk for cardiovascular morbidity and death. Current guidelines define chronic kidney disease as kidney damage or glomerular filtration rate (GFR) less than 60 mL/min per 1.73 m2 for three months or more, regardless of cause.
The assay of creatinine in serum or plasma is the most commonly used test to assess renal function. Creatinine is a break-down product of creatine phosphate in muscle, and is usually produced at a fairly constant rate by the body (depending on muscle mass). It is freely filtered by the glomeruli and, under normal conditions, is not re-absorbed by the tubules to any appreciable extent. A small but significant amount is also actively secreted.
Since a rise in blood creatinine is observed only with marked damage of the nephrons, it is not suited to detect early stage kidney disease. A considerably more sensitive test and better estimation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is given by the creatinine clearance test based on creatinine’s concentration in urine and serum or plasma, and urine flow rate. For this test a precisely timed urine collection (usually 24 hours) and a blood sample are needed. However, since this test is prone to error due to the inconvenient collection of timed urine, mathematical attempts to estimate GFR based only on the creatinine concentration in serum or plasma have been made.
Among the various approaches suggested, two have found wide recognition: that of Cockroft and Gault and that based on the results of the MDRD trial. While the first equation was derived from data obtained with the conventional Jaffé method, a newer version of the second is usable for IDMS-traceable creatinine methods.
Both are applicable for adults.
https://www.kidney.org/professionals/kdoqi/gfr_calculator
In children, the Bedside Schwartz formula should be used (patient height will be needed).
https://www.kidney.org/professionals/KDOQI/gfr_calculatorPed
In addition to the diagnosis and treatment of renal disease, the monitoring of renal dialysis, creatinine measurements are used for the calculation of the fractional excretion of other urine analytes (e. g., albumin, α-amylase).
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