Escaping the correction for body surface area when calculating glomerular filtration rate in children

Purpose Cr-51 ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (Cr-51 EDTA) clearance is nowadays considered as an accurate and reproducible method for measuring glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in children. Normal values in function of age, corrected for body surface area, have been recently updated. However, much criticism has been expressed about the validity of body surface area correction. The aim of the present paper was to present the normal GFR values, not corrected for body surface area, with the associated percentile curves. Methods For that purpose, the same patients as in the previous paper were selected, namely those with no recent urinary tract infection, having a normal left to right Tc-99m MAG3 uptake ratio and a normal kidney morphology on the early parenchymal images. A single blood sample method was used for Cr-51 EDTA clearance measurement. Results Clearance values, not corrected for body surface area, increased progressively up to the adolescence. Conclusion The percentile curves were determined and allow, for a single patient, to estimate accurately the level of non-corrected clearance and the evolution with time, whatever the age