Chronic renal failure screening

The burden of chronic renal disease is not only limited to its implications for replacement therapies such as dialysis or organ transplant, but it also has an impact on the overall population’s health and costs. In fact, patients with chronic renal disease include those who are at risk for the progression of renal disease and the development of overt end stage renal disease. These patients have a high likelihood of developing a cardiovascular disease.

Hence, the objective of screening in these patients is for the early detection of asymptomatic diseases, at a time when intervention has a reasonable potential to have an impact on the outcome of the disease course.

Currently, screening for chronic renal failure is only accepted in patients with diabetes and hypertension. Some of the tests frequently used for screening are as follows:

• Serum creatinine levels
• Dipstick urine for proteinuria and hematuria
• GFR estimation
• Urine albumin : creatinine ratio ^{[1] [2]}

Various antibody based screening tests are also available, but are not used routinely as they require expensive laboratory facilities.

• Radioimmune assay
• Nephelometry
• Immunoturbidimetry
• ELISA ^[1]

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