Iohexol clearance for the determination of glomerular filtration rate: 15 years ́ experience in clinical practice

We designed a chemical method for measurement of iohexol concentrations (4) and characterized its pharmacokinetics in man in relation to a number of other contrast media (5, 6). We found that is indeed a suitable marker for glomerular filtration rate (GFR): after intravenous injection, it is quantitatively recovered in the urine; the elimination occurs by glomerular filtration, with no signs of tubular secretion or reabsorbtion. In 1984, we introduced iohexol clearance as a method for the determination of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in clinical work (4). Since then, we have used the method extensively in experimental medicine, and since 1988 it is the standard method for GFR measurements at our hospital. Iohexol clearance is now performed by at least 30 laboratories in Sweden, and has been adopted as a standard method, which has largely replaced CrEDTA clearance for the measurement of GFR. Numerous publications from other groups demonstrate that the method has proven useful also in an international perspective.