Hematocrit, urea and gender: The Hematocrit, Urea and GEnder formula for prognosing progressive renal failure in diabetic nephropathy

Abstract Objective Diabetic nephropathy is a common cause of end stage renal disease. Notwithstanding, wide inter-individual variations in the speed of progression of diabetic nephropathy are frequent. We have used the score of the HUGE formula to predict progression of kidney disease in a group of diabetic nephropathy patients. Design and methods The sample consisted of 84 type 2 diabetic patients. At treatment entry, the mean age was 62.1 ± 12.5 years and 59.5% were male. Blood pressure was measured at office at each visit. Serum creatinine, urea, hematocrit and 24 h proteinuria were analyzed every 6 months. HUGE score was calculated from gender, urea and hematocrit. Results Mean HUGE score was 0.99 ± 3.88. Using as cut off point 1.5, those patients who had a score equal or higher (n = 31) showed a bigger increase in serum creatinine after one year (41.8 ± 62.1%) than those subjects with score   25%). Conclusions In diabetic nephropathy patients the HUGE equation may be useful to detect the subjects prone to progressive renal failure. Wider samples will be needed to confirm this finding and, most important, its applicability to other kinds of nephropathy.