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New Ways to Make Measurements in the Life Sciences. |
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GFR Laboratory Technical Information Determination of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is an important aspect of the evaluation of kidney function in pets. Indirect screening tests, such as blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine levels, do not register abnormal until 75% of the kidney's nephrons are nonfunctional. In contrast, measured GFR test is directly related to the functional renal mass. For pets with suspected kidney disease or kidney damage, a measured GFR test is accurate, reliable and reproducible. BioPAL offers laboratory services for veterinarians who need to run a measured GFR test on a canine or feline patient, but do not have the capability to process the immunoassay in-house. The doctor performs the test in his/her clinic according the to process below, and then mails the collected serum samples to BioPAL for analysis. The GFR measurement will be available to the veterinarian's office within one week. The Diagnostic Procedure An intravenous catheter is placed in a cephalic vein for administration of Gd-DTPA (0.1 ml/kg, Magnevist®) and then the line is flushed with saline. The time of the injection is recorded to the nearest minute. After the administration of the reagent, a blood sample is drawn from the jugular vein at 2, 3 and 4hours. The exact time of each blood collection is recorded to the nearest minute. The blood is collected in serum separation tubes without anticoagulant. Only 50 µl of serum is needed for analysis. Therefore, small animals, such as felines, can undergo this procedure safely. Labeled blood samples are then shipped overnight to BioPAL's GFR Laboratory. Results are available with one week. Published Data The Laboratory Service FIT-GFR Test Kits (Patents Pending)
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