Definition
|
ACR |
Albumin per day |
PCR |
Proteinuria per day |
Normal |
0-3 |
0-30 mg/day |
|
<200 mg/day |
Microalbuminuria |
3-30 |
30-300 mg/day |
|
|
Proteinuria |
30-300 |
300-3000 mg/day |
50-300 |
500 mg-3 g/day |
Nephrotic proteinuria |
>300 |
>3 g/day |
>300 |
>3 g/day |
All kidney diseases present with degrees of proteinuria. If the proteinuria is in the nephrotic area (3 g/day) one can with certainty say the filtration barrier is damaged and there is a glomerular disease. If the nephrotic proteinuria occurs together with low S-albumin (30 g/L) and edema, the condition is named nephrotic syndrome and is a clear indication for kidney biopsy. If the patient present with a kidney disease where the proteinuria dominates the clinical picture, the kidney disease is said to present as nephrotic even though the the patient does not meet the other criteria for a nephrotic syndrome. the different glomerulonephritises have a tendency to present clinically with either a nephrotic or nephritic picture, which contributes to supporting a diagnosis before the results of the biopsy. Proteinuria is an important diagnostic tool to identify patients with kidney disease. In addition, the degree of proteinuria is an important marker for the prognosis of the kidney disease. Regular monitoring of proteinuria is therefore essential in kidney disease cases.