New Equation Estimates GFR Across Age Spectrum

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The new European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) equation shows improved accuracy and precision for estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) from serum creatinine (SCr) levels compared with commonly used equations, according to a study published online Nov. 10 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Hans Pottel, Ph.D., from KU Leuven Campus Kulak Kortrijk in Belgium, and colleagues developed and validated a modified full age spectrum (FAS) SCr-based equation combining design features of the FAS and the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation for adults. Development and internal validation data sets included 11,251 participants in seven studies, while 8,378 participants in six studies were used for external validation.

The researchers report that the new EKFC equation is an FAS equation with low bias in children and adults across the FAS (2 years to 90 years) and across SCr range (40 to 490 μmol/L). Additionally, the equation has fewer estimation errors exceeding 30 percent, compared with the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children Study and CKD-EPI equations (6.5 percent in children and 3.1 percent in adults). A limitation is that no Black patients were included in the analysis.

“We agree that a single estimated GFR equation that can be used in children and adults and performs well in the transition from adolescence to young adulthood is a worthy goal,” write the authors of an accompanying editorial. “Future studies should include a panel of filtration markers in populations with a full spectrum of age and racial/ethnic diversity.”

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