MEETINGS & EVENTS

CKD Classification Conference

KDIGO announces plans to conduct a Controversies Conference on “Chronic Kidney Disease: Definition, Classification and Prognosis” to be held in London, United Kingdom in October, 2009.

It has been seven  years since the publication of the The National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI™) Clinical Practice Guideline on Chronic Kidney Disease: Evaluation, Classification and Stratification.¹  This guideline established terminology which was adopted throughout the world and provided a new conceptual framework for diagnosis and classification of chronic kidney disease (CKD) based upon markers of damage and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The 2002 guideline heightened global awareness of CKD as a public health problem, spawned new research, and expanded the CKD database.

Since then, there has been much learned about the criteria for the definition and classification of chronic kidney disease, and there have been many questions raised about the appropriateness of these criteria in different settings (See joint KDOQI/KDIGO Editorial on CKD Classification in AJKD).  Central to most of these questions is the prognosis of individuals identified and staged by these criteria.  To address these issues the KDIGO Conference will focus on the following topics:

1. What are the key outcomes of CKD?
2. What progress has been made in CKD testing (eGFR and albuminuria)?
3. What are the key factors determining prognosis (eGFR, albuminuria, others)?
4. Should the current CKD classification (based on eGFR) be modified to include additional factors associated with prognosis?
5. Based on these results, should the CKD definition be modified?

A major component of the conference will be a series of data presentations from prospective cohort studies in the general, CKD, and other high risk (hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetic) populations. The cohort investigators will review the results of a specified analysis designed to provide pertinent information on the relationship of eGFR, albuminuria and other factors to key outcomes in CKD.  These presentations will be followed by focused discussion groups who will be challenged to answer the critical questions and develop recommendations to be published in a position statement. We anticipate the conference and the publications will have a prominent role in shaping the current debate on the CKD definition and classification.

The conference will bring together experts from all over the world with different research and professional backgrounds, including clinical nephrologists, methodologists, epidemiologists, public health specialists and general practitioners. It will be chaired by Drs. Josef Coresh (United States), Paul de Jong (The Netherlands), Meguid El Nahas (United Kingdom), and Andrew Levey (United States), who will work together with the KDIGO co-chairs Drs. Kai-Uwe Eckardt (Germany) and Bertram Kasiske (United States). They will develop the scope of work, the analytical framework and the agenda. The conference will be limited to 100 invited participants.

However, individuals who are interested in participating in this conference and are willing to conduct a specified analysis on their data relevant to the topic of the conference are invited to submit a declaration of interest to Tom Manley, KDIGO Project Director.

1. National Kidney Foundation: K/DOQI Clinical Practice Guidelines for Chronic Kidney Disease: Evaluation, Classification and Stratification. Am J Kid Dis 39 (Suppl 1): S1-S266, 2002