| Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a world-wide public health problem, with adverse outcomes of kidney failure, cardiovascular disease, and premature death. This finding has led to the hypothesis that earlier recognition of kidney disease and successful intervention may improve outcome. The National Kidney Foundation, through its Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (K/DOQI), and other National institutions recommend glomerular filtration rate (GFR) for the definition, classification, screening, and monitoring of CKD. Blood creatinine clearance, the most widely used clinical marker of kidney function, is now recognized as an unreliable measure of GFR because serum creatinine is affected by age, weight, muscle mass, race, various medications, and... |
