The use of cystatin C-inclusive equations will continue to propagate the unnecessary overdiagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in older people. Cystatin C is less biologically specific for CKD than is serum creatinine, inflates the risks of adverse outcomes compared to measured glomerular filtration rate, and does not establish chronicity at a single time point.
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The authors’ work is supported with funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01 DK090358).
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Rule, A.D., Glassock, R.J. Cystatin C and the misdiagnosis of CKD in older adults. Nat Rev Nephrol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-024-00852-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-024-00852-y