American Kidney Fund releases guide for improving diagnoses of kidney disease
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The American Kidney Fund has released a guide on improving the accuracy and timeliness of kidney disease diagnoses when the causes of disease are not evident, according to a press release from the organization.
The guide was developed based on discussions from a virtual event hosted by the AKF in December of 2020, known as the Unknown Causes of Kidney Disease Summit, and the project receives support from numerous sponsors including Natera and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc.
“Currently, there is a lack of standards, best practices and uniform data collection for genetic testing for kidney disease of unknown cause,” Ali Gharavi, MD, chief of the division of nephrology at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center and member of the steering committee for the Unknown Causes of Kidney Disease project, said in the release. “It is our hope that by following this Roadmap, we can start initiatives that can improve quality of care for patients regardless of where they may reside or seek treatment.”
To implement the recommendations outlined in the guide, the AKF intends to work with health care providers and other stakeholders in the development of accessible resources that aid providers, patients and caregivers in pursuing a diagnosis and that facilitate conversations about genetic testing, according to the release.
“Each step along the kidney care journey can be overwhelming and complicated, particularly for people who know they have kidney disease, but do not know why. Discovering the root cause of a patient’s kidney disease can provide clinical insights for the provider and have life-saving implications for the individual,” LaVarne A. Burton, AKF president and CEO, said. “We’re eager to continue leading the kidney community in reducing the number of patients unaware of the origins of their kidney disease.”
The complete guide, as well as slides from the panel discussion, can be found here.
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