Clinical Implications of the New Equation to Estimate Glomerular Filtration Rate

Recently, a new full-age spectrum equation was proposed by the European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) to overcome the difficulty of using multiple glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimation equations and problems of implausible changes in GFR during the transition from adolescence to adulthood and address GFR overestimation in young adults and in the older adults. To verify the impact on patient classifications, we applied the new equation to data of 38,188 adult patients, comparing GFR estimation using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) and EKFC equations. As expected, our data indicate that a significant proportion of patients will be reclassified downward by the EKFC compared to the CKD-EPI equation with a particular reference between CKD stages 1-2 and 2-3 and age categories of 18-30 and ≥61 years, respectively. Clinicians should be aware that any replacement for the EKFC equation will entail a period of different results in estimated GFR during the transition from the previous to the new equation.