Renal function and ultrasound imaging in elderly subjects

We evaluated in elderly subjects (a) the ability of GFR formulas to discriminate chronic kidney disease (CKD), (b) the correlationbetween renal morphology and function, and (c) the usefulness of combined r-US and GFR formulas to detect CKD. A total of 72patients were enrolled (mean age 80 ± 7 years,male sex 44%, serumcreatinine 0.98 ± 0.42mg/dL, and CKD 57%). Cockcroft-Gaultshowed the highest sensitivity (78%) and specificity (94%) for CKD and was correlated with kidney volume ( = 0.68, < 0.001).All formulas failed to provide a reliable estimate of GFR. In multivariate analysis, Cockcroft-Gault < 52 mL/min and kidney sinussection area < 28 cm2 showed the highest accuracy for the identification of CKD subjects (AUC 0.90, < 0.001). MDRD andCKD-EPI differed significantly for GFR ≥90 mL/min. Conclusions. Cockcroft-Gault < 52 mL/min was able to discriminate subjectswith CKD but all formulas failed to provide a reliable estimate of GFR. The combined use of r-US and Cockcroft-Gault formulaimproved the ability to discriminate CKD in elderly subjects.