Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a worldwide public health concern that has received increased attention in recent decades. It is a leading cause of death globally (Lozano, 2012). It places tremendous financial burdens on the healthcare system, with greater than $87.2 billion in expenditures attributed to CKD in 2019 (CDC, 2019).
As part of an effort to improve the detection and management of CKD, the National Kidney Foundation-Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF-KDOQI) proposed the first formalized definition of CKD and provided clinical guidelines for evaluating, classifying, and stratifying the disease in 2002.
A decade later, the international organization KDIGO (Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes) published revisions to both the definition as well as accompanying guidelines based on the latest evidence.
This module provides essential background on CKD for the practicing clinical laboratorian. Emphasis is placed on the NKF-KDOQI review and commentary of the KDIGO guidelines (Inker, 2014), focusing on the laboratory testing associated with diagnosing and monitoring the disease.
