![[article image]](https://cacm.acm.org/system/assets/0004/1178/0930212_kidney_resource_center_Washington_University_School_of_Medicine_Normal_Kidney_Function.large.jpg?1633024640&1633024640 "Normal kidney function.")
A joint national task force of the American Society of Nephrology and the National Kidney Foundation is recommending immediate implementation of a new diagnostic equation for measuring kidney function that eliminates race from the kidney function algorithm.
The current equation assigns a higher estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), an estimate of how much creatinine is in a patient's blood, to patients who self-identify as Black.
As a result, Black patients need a higher creatinine level than white patients to be added to the transplant waiting list.
The task force's final report calls for the widespread use of the protein cystatin C as a biomarker of kidney health, instead of or in addition to creatinine.
From Penn Medicine News
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