[Kidney Disease and Laboratory Examinations--Opening Remarks: For Better Understanding of CKD].

Chronic kidney diseases (CKD) have been cited as major risk factors not only for endstage renal failure, but also for the development of cardiovascular diseases and death. In the former criteria for CKD diagnosis (NKF K/DOQI, 2002), estimation of the severity of CKD was simply based on GFR, in order for it to be widely and easily understood by general physicians and patients. Therefore, the use of the CKD guideline without information on the causes and grades of albuminuria was limited for estimation of the prognosis. The revised guideline for CKD diagnosis (KDIGO CKD guideline 2012), with the disease category specified for diabetes mellitus and the different scoring system of microalbuminuria, is presently being effectively utilized by nephrologists as well as general physicians. In this symposium, to advice understanding of the causes and evaluation methods of CKD, speakers were invited to discuss topics in kidney pathology, urine sample examination, urinary biomarkers, and GFR.