The Renal Function Laboratory, located within Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute's Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, supports clinical and research renal function diagnostic testing in-house, as well as for outside clinics/vendors. The Renal Lab was founded by Phillip Hall, MD, in 1973 and Emilio Poggio, MD, is the current acting director.
The laboratory's primary area of interest is isotopic renal clearance glomerular filtration rate (GFR) testing 1251-sodium iothalamate (Glofil) as our GFR tracer. We have 40 years of experience with this methodology and are the only institution in Ohio routinely performing this test clinically. Glofil GFR results provide an accurate and precise measure of kidney filtration which can be valuable for various transplant patients both pre- and post-transplant, as well as for geriatric and pediatric patients, oncology patients and kidney donor candidates. GFR testing is well accepted by patients and typically provides same or next day results.
The Renal Lab maintains patient GFR results in a database which is one of the largest GFR databases in the country. More than 18,000 routine clinical GFR studies have been done by Lab personnel (currently about 700/year).
The laboratory developed research GFR testing protocols and participated as the central GFR laboratory for the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD), the African-American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK), and the current Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study (CRIC). GFR testing capabilities are available for in-house and outside investigators. The GFR Lab offers GFR testing training sessions and lab personnel have trained renal function technologists for the Diabetes Complications Control Trial (DCCT) and other studies.
Based upon current research projects, the laboratory plans to offer non-radioactive (cold) Glofil renal clearance GFR testing by early 2013. Plans are also underway to offer one of more cold iothalamate GFR plasma disappearance GFR tests by the end of 2013. These new, more convenient testing procedures will make kidney filtration measurement less stressful for patients since disappearance procedures require only one or two blood samples and eliminate urine collections.