Correlation between serum creatinine, creatinine clearance, the calculated creatinine clearance and the glomerular filtration rate in heart transplant patients

Assessment of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in heart transplant (HTx) patients is based on serum creatinine (sCr), the endogenous creatinine clearance (Cc,) and radionuclide GFR,(rGFR); however, the latter is expensive and time consuming. We reviewed the data of 32 adult HTx patients to determine the correlation between sCr, C-Cr, the calculated C-Cr (Calc.C-Cr; based on gender, age, weight and sCr) and rGFR in long-term (>1 year). HTx patients receiving calcineurin inhibitors. The Calc.C-Cr was found to have the best correlation with rGFR (r(2) = 0.65), followed by C-Cr (r(2) = 0.53) and sCr (r(2) = 0.38). The use of Calc.C-Cr to estimate GFR may be cost-effective in assessing renal function after HTx.