|Articles|August 20, 2021

Pharmacy Clinical Pearl of the Day: Kidney Disease Stages

Author(s)Saro Arakelians, PharmD

The lower the glomerular filtration rate, the lower the stage, the worse kidney disease is.

Clinical Pearl of the Day: Kidney disease stages

Kidney disease has 5 stages: Stage 1, 2,3 (a,b), 4, 5

Explanation:

The lower the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), the lower the stage, the worse it is.
Patients below GFR 50 (below stage 3a) must be evaluated for possible medication dose adjustments.
Patients with GFR below 15 end up on dialysis.
GFR above 90 is normal.

Reference:

Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) | National Kidney Foundation

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