Volume 184 - Issue 9
Chronic kidney disease and automatic reporting of estimated glomerular filtration rate
Authors: Timothy H Mathew, Graham Jones and David Johnson
Med J Aust 2006; 184 (9): 476-477. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00330.x
Published online: 1 May 2006
Published online: 1 May 2006
In reply: McNeil draws attention to the detail in the correction factor we published in an attempt to assist users to “uncorrect” the eGFR derived from the MDRD (Modification of Diet in Renal Disease) equation used in calculating GFR from a serum creatinine concentration. Recalculating the eGFR to remove the adjustment for body surface area (BSA) in an individual is unnecessary except at extremes of body size.1
Readers can be reassured that the formulas published in the position statement,2 if used as directed, will not lead to any error. However, it would have been clearer if we had labelled the “BSA” equation as “correction factor” instead of “BSA”. In the position statement2 it can be misinterpreted that the BSA formula has a denominator, whereas, when used primarily to calculate BSA, it of course does not. Both versions of the formulas (ours in the position statement and McNeil’s) therefore lead to identical answers. The reader can choose which one to use.
References
- Peters AM, Henderson BL, Lui D. Indexed glomerular filtration rate as a function of age and body size. Clin Sci (Lond) 2000; 98: 439-444.<eMJA full text>
- Australian Creatinine Consensus Working Group. Chronic kidney disease and automatic reporting of estimated glomerular filtration rate: a position statement. Med J Aust 2005; 183: 138-141. 0_pgfId-1784728