Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How blood tests find early kidney problems in dogs
By Pelander, Lena et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2019·Department of Clinical Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Comparison of the diagnostic value of symmetric dimethylarginine, cystatin C, and creatinine for detection of decreased glomerular filtration rate in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 97 dogs, some with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and others healthy, were tested to see how well different blood tests could detect kidney function problems. The tests compared were serum creatinine, symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), and cystatin C. Both creatinine and SDMA were found to be very effective, with a 90% accuracy rate in identifying decreased kidney function, while cystatin C was less reliable. The study suggests that using creatinine or SDMA can help vets catch kidney issues early in dogs.
People also search for: dog kidney disease symptoms · SDMA test for dogs · creatinine levels in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Early detection of decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in dogs is challenging. Current methods are insensitive and new biomarkers are required. OBJECTIVE: To compare overall diagnostic performance of serum symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) and serum cystatin C to serum creatinine, for detection of decreased GFR in clinically stable dogs, with or without chronic kidney disease (CKD). ANIMALS: Ninety-seven client-owned dogs: 67 dogs with a diagnosis or suspicion of CKD and 30 healthy dogs were prospectively included. METHODS: Prospective diagnostic accuracy study. All dogs underwent physical examination, systemic arterial blood pressure measurement, urinalysis, hematology and blood biochemistry analysis, cardiac and urinary ultrasound examinations, and scintigraphy for estimation of glomerular filtration rate (mGFR). Frozen serum was used for batch analysis of SDMA and cystatin C. RESULTS: The area under the curve of creatinine, SDMA, and cystatin C for detection of an mGFR <30.8 mL/min/L was 0.98 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.93-1.0), 0.96 (95% CI, 0.91-0.99), and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.79-0.93), respectively. The sensitivity of both creatinine and SDMA at their prespecified cutoffs (115 μmol/L [1.3 mg/dL] and 14 μg/dL) for detection of an abnormal mGFR was 90%. The specificity was 90% for creatinine and 87% for SDMA. When adjusting the cutoff for cystatin C to correspond to a diagnostic sensitivity of 90% (0.49 mg/L), specificity was lower (72%) than that of creatinine and SDMA. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Overall diagnostic performance of creatinine and SDMA for detection of decreased mGFR was similar. Overall diagnostic performance of cystatin C was inferior to both creatinine and SDMA.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30791142/