April 20, 2025

A Useful Early Warning Test for Kidney Damage

A Useful Early Warning Test for Kidney Damage

From Episode 172 on the ECC stream. With Dr Tina Wismer.

Your patient has eaten a potential nephrotoxin. You want to monitor its kidneys, and ideally you want to know as soon as possible if there’s a problem, right. And by the time the CREA start rising it’s pretty late in the game, so it would be great if there was a test that could you a heads up earlier. Toxicologist Dr Wismer told us that:

  • It’s not SDMA. 

“When it (SDMA) first came out, we were hopeful. But it does not appear to be good at predicting further problems.”

BUT

  •  A test called Cystatin B IS good.

    • It’ a new test that is actually very specific for tubular damage, and is good for toxins. 

    • It’s a send-away test run through IDEXX, unfortunately only available in the US and Canada for now.

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