Kidney failure is an important prognostic factor in patients with heart failure. Renal function is usually evaluated by measuring the serum creatinine level. However, a normal creatinine level can mask established kidney failure. We investigated the prognostic significance of the estimated creatinine clearance rate (Cockcroft formula) in 235 patients with heart failure and a normal serum creati...

Pancreatic and salivary amylase/creatinine clearance ratios in patients with various degrees of renal impairment were compared with those obtained for control subjects. In chronic renal insufficiency (mean GFR 30 ml/min +/- 15 SD; n = 13) the clearance ratios for pancreatic (mean 3.5 +/- 1.85 SD) and salivary (mean 2.3 +/- 1.3 SD) amylase were significantly higher (P less than 0.05) than those ...

BACKGROUND Loading dose recommendations for digoxin are based on the volume of distribution, which is proportional to lean body weight, whereas maintenance dose recommendations depend on renal function. The volume of distribution of this drug is demonstrably reduced in severe renal dysfunction, but the threshold at which a reduction in loading dose is warranted remains unknown. OBJECTIVES To ...

Increased tubular creatinine secretion by remnant nephrons—unexplained but informative? Sir, It is well known that declining kidney function is accompanied by an increasing contribution of tubular creatinine secretion to the total creatinine clearance; secretion may account for as much as 50% of creatinine clearance in the later stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The implications of this p...

Although epidemiological studies suggest that people with minor impairment of renal function are at higher risk of stroke and coronary heart disease, the mechanisms underlying this relation are unclear. One explanation may lie with observations that deterioration in renal function is accompanied by elevations in plasma homocysteine concentrations. There is evidence that moderate hyperhomocystei...

The main risk factor for contrast nephropathy is the presence of poor renal function. Plasma creatinine level is not a reliable measure of renal function as its value could lie within the normal range despite the presence of significant nephropathy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the creatinine clearance rate as a predictor of contrast nephropathy in patients with a normal plasma cre...

We have studied the effect of renal function on the pharmacodynamics of mivacurium. Sixty patients were allocated to three groups according to creatinine clearance: group C (control), creatinine clearance > 50 ml min-1; group P (preterminal renal failure), creatinine clearance < 50 ml min-1 > 20 ml min-1; group T(terminal renal failure), creatinine clearance < 20 ml min-1. Neuromuscular transmi...

A prospective study of nine patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 11 healthy volunteers who started salicylate treatment showed that in 18 of the 20 subjects creatinine clearance values fell the average being 25%. Serum creatinine concentration was increased by an average of 38%, although blood urea levels were unchanged. Since 51Cr-edetic acid clearance tests performed at the same time in 12 ...