The Lund-Malmö creatinine-based glomerular filtration rate prediction equation for adults also performs well in children.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the clinical performance in a paediatric population of the Lund-Malmö creatinine-based glomerular filtration rate (GFR) prediction equations, primarily developed for adults.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Iohexol clearance was used as the gold standard in 85 paediatric Caucasian patients (0.3-17 years; 37 F/48 M). One Lund-Malmö equation was based on age and gender (LM) and one included lean body mass (LM-LBM). Comparisons focused on correlation (adjusted R2), bias (median percent error) and accuracy (proportions of predicted GFR differing < or = 30% from measured GFR) (mL/min/1.73 m2). The performances were compared with those of the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) Study equation, a dedicated paediatric creatinine equation, Counahan-Barratt (CB) and a cystatin C-based equation.

RESULTS

The MDRD equation performed poorly with a median bias of 96%. Of the remaining equations, only the LM-LBM produced significant bias (+10% in median) according to line of identity regression analysis. The LM equation yielded marginally higher accuracy (76%) than the LM-LBM equation (74%) and the CB (73%), but lower than the cystatin C-based equation (82%). However, the estimated accuracy figures for these four equations were generally imprecise and none of the differences compared with the LM equation was statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

In contrast to most creatinine-based GFR prediction equations, the LM equation performs adequately for both children and adults. This may be due to the unique model-building principles used when the LM equation was established. Further validation in a larger paediatric population is necessary.