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Blood tests are also used to assess kidney function. These include tests that are intended to directly measure the function of the kidneys, as well as tests that assess the function of the kidneys by looking for evidence of problems associated with abnormal function. One of the measures of kidney function is the glomerular filtration rate (GFR).
Outside the United States, blood tests made up of the majority of the same biochemical tests are called urea and electrolytes (U&E or "U and Es"), or urea, electrolytes, creatinine (UEC or EUC or CUE), and are often referred to as 'kidney function tests' as they also include a calculated estimated glomerular filtration rate. The BMP provides ...
Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, family history, older age, ethnic group and smoking. For most patients, a GFR over 60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 is adequate. But significant decline of the GFR from a previous test result can be an early indicator of kidney disease requiring medical intervention.
GFR on its own is the most common and important measure of renal function. However, in conditions such as renal artery stenosis, blood flow to the kidneys is reduced. Filtration fraction must therefore be increased in order to perform the normal functions of the kidney. Loop diuretics and thiazide diuretics decrease filtration fraction.
The comprehensive metabolic panel, or chemical screen (CMP; CPT code 80053), is a panel of 14 blood tests that serves as an initial broad medical screening tool. The CMP provides a rough check of kidney function, liver function, diabetic and parathyroid status, and electrolyte and fluid balance, but this type of screening has its limitations.
Until recently that meant many lab reports would list two results — one calculated for non-Black patients and another for Black patients that could overestimate kidney function by as much as 16%.
Nephrology is a specialty for both adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function (renal physiology) and kidney disease (renal pathophysiology), the preservation of kidney health, and the treatment of kidney disease, from diet and medication to renal replacement therapy (dialysis and kidney transplantation).
This illustration demonstrates the normal kidney physiology, including the Proximal Convoluted Tubule (PCT), Loop of Henle, and Distal Convoluted Tubule (DCT). It also includes illustrations showing where some types of diuretics act, and what they do. Renal physiology (Latin renes, "kidneys") is the study of the physiology of the kidney.