Review article
The importance of measuring glomerular filtration rate in nephrology and cardiology
Petra Jurčić
orcid.org/0000-0002-7763-6651
; Klinika za unutarnje bolesti, Klinička bolnica “Sveti Duh”, Zagreb
Abstract
Chronic kidney disease is a public health problem worldwide. It is defined as kidney damage or a reduction in glomerular filtration rate of <60 ml/min/1.73 m2 for a period exceeding three months. It is estimated that 19 million adults in the United States have chronic kidney disease. The accurate data is currently not available for Croatia, however, based on data from the registry of Croatian Society of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation and the prevalence and incidence in other countries, it is estimated that chronic kidney disease affects 150 000 people. It has been shown that chronic kidney disease is associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Cardiovascular complications are the leading cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease, and the risk of cardiovascular mortality increases with decreasing renal function (10-30 times higher in dialysis patients compared to age, gender and racially matched controls). Traditional cardiovascular risk factors play an important role in the progression of reduced glomerular filtration rate, but they cannot fully be explained by the high incidence of cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease. Non-traditional risk factors contribute to the acquisition of additional risk. The most effective strategy for reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in chronic renal patients would be to screen people with mild impairment of renal function. According to the guidelines of the U.S. National Kidney Foundation the glomerular filtration rate in adults can be calculated by the recommended Cockcroft-Gault and MDRD equations, while in children by the Schwartz Counahan-Barrat equation. Therapeutic guidelines for patients with chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular risk factors must be evaluated in randomized studies from which such patients are often excluded.
Keywords
cardiovascular risk factors; chronic renal disease; glomerular filtration rate
Hrčak ID:
84189
URI
Publication date:
4.6.2012.
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