Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, Vol 12, Issue 1 78-80, Copyright © 1997 by Oxford University Press
E Minetti, M Cozzi, S Granata and E Guidi
Background. A quick, accurate, and easy measurement of
microalbuminuria can be useful for the management of many patients. The
Micral-Test® stick (Boehringer Mannheim, Germany) gives a
semiquantitative estimation of urinary albumin concentration at discrete
readings of 0, 10, 20, 50 or 100 mg/l. The purpose of this study was to
test its accuracy. Methods. From 46 non-diabetic
patients, 491 urinary samples were analysed both with Micral-Test®
and with immunochemical nephelometry. Results. Of 491
samples, 308 were from non-proteinuric patients (urinary albumin
<300 mg/day). In these patients the correlation coefficient of
nephelometric values versus the stick readings was
0.79; 120/123 samples from non-microalbuminuric (⩽30 mg/24h) and
164/185 from microalbuminuric patients were correctly identified by the
stick, giving an 89% sensitivity and a 98% specificity. The readings around
the threshold for microalbuminuria (20 and 50 mg/l patches) were the most
reliable ones. Analysis of the correct/uncorrect readings' ratio for every
patch in the 245 samples in the 0-150 mg/l range shows a relative
uniformity (chi2=8.5, P=0.07), while analysis of the
over/correct/underreadings for the 10, 20 and 50 patches, shows that
incorrect responses tend to be underestimations for the 10 patch and
overestimations for the 20 and 50 mg/l patches
(chi2=10.5, P=0.03).
Conclusion. The Micral-Test® stick is useful
for screening, but less reliable for follow-up, unless considerable changes
in albumin excretion are expected. Keywords: method;
microalbuminuria; reagent strip
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Accuracy of the urinary albumin titrator stick 'Micral-Test' in kidney-disease patients
Centro di Ricerca Clinica di Nefrologia e Ipertensione Arteriosa-Unita Operativa di Nefrologia, Dialisi e Terapia del Trapianto Renale, and Laboratorio di Biochimica ed Ematoligia, Ospedale Niguarda Ca' Granda, Piazza Ospedale Maggiore 3, 20162 Milano, Italy; Corresponding author
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