Creatinine Standardization Program

The NKDEP encourages laboratories to automatically report estimated GFR when serum creatinine is ordered. In addition, the NKDEP Laboratory Working Group has launched the Creatinine Standardization Program to address inter-laboratory variation in creatinine assay calibration and provide more accurate estimates of GFR. Both efforts are part of a larger NKDEP initiative to help health care providers better identify and treat chronic kidney disease in order to prevent or delay kidney failure and improve patient outcomes.

Recommendations

Below are links to recommendations for groups that play a critical role in the implementation of creatinine standardization worldwide.

• IVD Manufacturers
• Clinical Laboratories
• Proficiency Testing and External Quality Assessment Scheme Providers
• Pharmacists and Authorized Drug Prescribers
• National Metrology Institutes, Reference Laboratories, and JCTLM Organizational Members
• Software Vendors

Resources

• Commutability Study Results
• NIST's SRM 967
• Suggestions for Laboratories
• Rationale for Use and Reporting of Estimated GFR
• GFR Calculators - for adults (Original MDRD and IDMS-Traceable MDRD Study equations) and children
• IFCC - Working Group on Standardisation of Glomerular Filtration Rate Assessment (WG-GFRA)
• EC4 - List of International Clinical Chemistry organizations

Frequently Asked Questions

• Creatinine Standardization
• eGFR (For additional questions, visit AACC's Expert Access session on eGFR.)

Please check back regularly for updates.

Publications and Presentations

• Presentations at the 2007 AACC Symposium
  • Update on the NKDEP Creatinine Standardization Program. View presentation slides. (PDF, 275K)
  • Reporting Estimated GFR: The Public Health Benefit. View presentation slides. (PDF, 1.49M)
  • Cystatin C: A Tool for Detecting Mild Decreased Kidney Function and Cardiovascular Risk. View presentation slides. (PDF, 438K)
• Recommendations for Improving Serum Creatinine Measurement: A Report from the Laboratory Working Group of the National Kidney Disease Education Program. (January 2006, Clinical Chemistry) View article.
• List of References.
• NKDEP Launches Creatinine Standardization Program: Why Labs Should Recalibrate Serum Creatinine Methods, Report Estimated GFRs. (April 2006, Clinical Laboratory News) View article. (PDF, 489K)
• Abstract for IDMS-Traceable MDRD Equation.
• Using Standardized Serum Creatinine Values in the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study Equation for Estimating Glomerular Filtration Rate. (August 2006, Annals of Internal Medicine) View article.

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