Background A comprehensive evaluation of the independent and combined associations of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria with mortality is required for assessment of the impact of kidney function on risk in the general population, with implications for improving the definition and staging of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods A collaborative meta-analysis of general population cohorts was undertaken to pool standardized data for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. The two kidney measures and potential confounders from 14 studies (105,872 participants; 730,577 person-years) with urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) measurements and seven studies (1,128,310 participants; 4,732,110 person-years) with urine protein dipstick measurements were modeled. Findings In ACR studies, mortality risk was unrelated to eGFR between 75-105 ml/min/1·73 m2 and increased at lower eGFR. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for all-cause mortality at eGFR 60, 45, and 15 (versus 95) ml/min/1·73 m2 were 1·18 (95% CI: 1·05-1·32), 1·57 (1·39-1·78), and 3·14 (2·39-4·13), respectively. ACR was associated with mortality risk linearly on the log-log scale without threshold effects. Adjusted HRs for all-cause mortality at ACR 10, 30, and 300 (versus 5) mg/g were 1·20 (1·15-1·26), 1·63 (1·50-1·77), and 2·22 (1·97-2·51). eGFR and ACR were multiplicatively associated with mortality without evidence of interaction. Similar findings were observed for cardiovascular mortality and in dipstick studies. Interpretation Lower eGFR (<60 ml/min/1·73 m2) and higher albuminuria (ACR ≥10 mg/g) were independent predictors of mortality risk in the general population. This study provides quantitative data for using both kidney measures for risk evaluation and CKD definition and staging.

Previous studies have suggested that living kidney donors maintain long-term renal function and experience no increase in cardiovascular or all-cause mortality. However, most analyses have included control groups less healthy than the living donor population and have had relatively short follow-up periods. Here we compared long-term renal function and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in living kidney donors compared with a control group of individuals who would have been eligible for donation. All-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) was identified in 1901 individuals who donated a kidney during 1963 through 2007 with a median follow-up of 15.1 years. A control group of 32,621 potentially eligible kidney donors was selected, with a median follow-up of 24.9 years. Hazard ratio for all-cause death was significantly increased to 1.30 (95% confidence interval 1.11-1.52) for donors compared with controls. There was a significant corresponding increase in cardiovascular death to 1.40 (1.03-1.91), while the risk of ESRD was greatly and significantly increased to 11.38 (4.37-29.6). The overall incidence of ESRD among donors was 302 cases per million and might have been influenced by hereditary factors. Immunological renal disease was the cause of ESRD in the donors. Thus, kidney donors are at increased long-term risk for ESRD, cardiovascular, and all-cause mortality compared with a control group of non-donors who would have been eligible for donation.

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Context Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is prevalent in older individuals, but the risk implications of low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and high albuminuria across the full age range are controversial. Objective To evaluate possible effect modification (interaction) of age on the association of estimated GFR and albuminuria with clinical risk examining both relative and absolute risk. Design, Setting, Participants We investigated 2,051,244 participants from 33 general population or high-risk (of vascular disease) cohorts and 13 CKD cohorts from Asia, Australesia, Europe, and North/South America conducted during 1972–2011 with mean follow-up time of 5.8 years (range 0–31 years). Main Outcome Measures Hazard ratios (HRs) of mortality and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) according to eGFR and albuminuria were meta-analyzed across age categories after adjusting for sex, race, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, systolic blood pressure, cholestserol, body mass index, and smoking. Absolute risks were estimated using HRs and average incidence rates. Results Mortality (112,325 deaths) and ESRD (8,411 events) risk were higher at lower eGFR and higher albuminuria in every age category. In general/high-risk cohorts, relative mortality risk for reduced eGFR decreased with increasing age: e.g., adjusted HRs (95% CI) at eGFR 45 vs. 80 ml/min/1.73m2 were 3.50 (2.55–4.81), 2.21 (2.02–2.41), 1.59 (1.42–1.77), and 1.35 (1.23–1.48) in age categories 18–54, 55–64, 65–74 and 75+ years, respectively (P-values for age interaction <0.05). Absolute risk differences for the same comparisons were higher at older age (9.0 [95% CI, 6.0–12.8], 12.2 [10.3–14.3], 13.3 [9.0–18.6], and 27.2 [13.5–45.5] excess deaths per 1,000 person-years, respectively). For increased albuminuria, reduction of relative risk with increasing age were less evident, while differences in absolute risk were higher in the older age categories (7.5 [95% CI, 4.3–11.9], 12.2 [7.9–17.6], 22.7 [15.3–31.6], and 34.3 [19.5–52.4] excess deaths per 1,000 person-years, respectively by age category, at ACR 300 mg/g compared to 10 mg/g). In CKD cohorts, adjusted relative hazards of mortality did not decrease with age. In all cohorts, ESRD relative risks and absolute risk differences at lower eGFR or higher albuminuria were comparable across age categories. Conclusions Both low eGFR and high albuminuria were independently associated with mortality and ESRD regardless of age across a wide range of populations. Mortality showed lower relative risk but higher absolute risks differences at older age.

ESRD incidence is much lower in. The relative risk for progression from CKD stages 3 or 4 to ESRD in US white patients compared with Norwegian patients was 2.5. This was only modestly modified by adjustment for age, gender, and diabetes. Age and GFR at start of dialysis were similar, hypertension and cardiovascular mortality in the populations were comparable, but US white patients were referred later to a nephrologist and had higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes. In conclusion, CKD prevalence in Norway was similar to that in the United States, suggesting that lower progression to ESRD rather than a smaller pool of individuals at risk accounts for the lower incidence of ESRD in Norway.J Am Soc Nephrol 17: 2275 -2284, 2006 . doi: 10.1681 T here has been a dramatic rise in the number of patients with ESRD in both Europe and North America during the past decades. There is significant disparity, however, in ESRD incidence rates between the two continents: Incidence rates are three times higher in the United States compared with Norway and Great Britain (1,2). Data on the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Europe are limited, making it unclear whether the higher ESRD incidence in the United States reflects a higher burden of all stages of CKD (3,4).The relationship between the prevalence of earlier stages of CKD and the incidence of ESRD is complex (5-9): US CKD prevalence has been relatively stable in the past decade, whereas ESRD incidence has increased significantly, and US black patients have a three times higher incidence of ESRD despite similar prevalences of CKD. This can be due to differences in other mechanisms, such as more rapid progression or greater initiation of dialysis. Early stages of CKD also result in a higher risk for complications, cardiovascular disease, and mortality, which pose a larger absolute risk than ESRD. Furthermore, identifying and treating individuals with early stages of CKD is increasingly proposed for prevention of ESRD and cardiovascular disease (9,10). This requires solid documentation of a high prevalence of preclinical disease. Thus far, European studies on CKD prevalence have been hampered by selection bias or incomplete data for defining CKD stages (11-13).Therefore, there is a need for more information on the prevalence of CKD in European populations as well as a better understanding of the relationship of CKD prevalence to ESRD incidence. The second Health Survey of Nord-Trondelag County (HUNT II) is a large, population-based, cross-sectional study that was conducted in central Norway with a high participation rate (14). We used HUNT II data to assess the prevalence of CKD using calibrated serum creatinine values and repeated measurements of albuminuria. Combining these prevalence estimates with available information on ESRD, health care, and population characteristics, we also examined the extent to which the low incidence of ESRD in Norway compared with the United States reflects a difference in the earlier stages of CKD between the two countries. Material...

CKD prevalence estimation is central to CKD management and prevention planning at the population level. This study estimated CKD prevalence in the European adult general population and investigated international variation in CKD prevalence by age, sex, and presence of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. We collected data from 19 general-population studies from 13 European countries. CKD stages 1-5 was defined as eGFR,60 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 , as calculated by the CKD-Epidemiology Collaboration equation, or albuminuria .30 mg/g, and CKD stages 3-5 was defined as eGFR,60 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 .CKD prevalence was age-and sex-standardized to the population of the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU27). We found considerable differences in both CKD stages 1-5 and CKD stages 3-5 prevalence across European study populations. The adjusted CKD stages 1-5 prevalence varied between 3.31% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 3.30% to 3.33%) in Norway and 17.3% (95% CI, 16.5% to 18.1%) in northeast Germany. The adjusted CKD stages 3-5 prevalence varied between 1.0% (95% CI, 0.7% to 1.3%) in central Italy and 5.9% (95% CI, 5.2% to 6.6%) in northeast Germany. The variation in CKD prevalence stratified by diabetes, hypertension, and obesity status followed the same pattern as the overall prevalence. In conclusion, this large-scale attempt to carefully characterize CKD prevalence in Europe identified substantial variation in CKD prevalence that appears to be due to factors other than the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.

Despite the high prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), relatively few individuals with CKD progress to ESRD. A better understanding of the risk factors for progression could improve the classification system of CKD and strategies for screening. We analyzed data from 65,589 adults who participated in the Nord-Trøndelag Health (HUNT 2) Study (1995 to 1997) and found 124 patients who progressed to ESRD after 10.3 yr of follow-up. In multivariable survival analysis, estimated GFR (eGFR) and albuminuria were independently and strongly associated with progression to ESRD: Hazard ratios for eGFR 45 to 59, 30 to 44, and 15 to 29 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 were 6.7, 18.8, and 65.7, respectively (P Ͻ 0.001 for all), and for micro-and macroalbuminuria were 13.0 and 47.2 (P Ͻ 0.001 for both). Hypertension, diabetes, male gender, smoking, depression, obesity, cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, physical activity and education did not add predictive information. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analyses showed that considering both the urinary albumin/creatinine ratio and eGFR substantially improved diagnostic accuracy. Referral based on current stages 3 to 4 CKD (eGFR 15 to 59 ml/min per 1.73 m 2 ) would include 4.7% of the general population and identify 69.4% of all individuals progressing to ESRD. Referral based on our classification system would include 1.4% of the general population without losing predictive power (i.e., it would detect 65.6% of all individuals progressing to ESRD). In conclusion, all levels of reduced eGFR should be complemented by quantification of urinary albumin to predict optimally progression to ESRD.

A multidisciplinary group of researchers and clinicians met in October 2018 to identify evidence and address controversies in potassium management. Here we provide our overview of potassium homeostasis in health and disease and guidance for evaluation and management of dyskalemias in the context of kidney diseases, and indicate research priorities.