End-Stage Renal Disease

To diagnose end-stage renal disease, your health care provider may ask you about your family’s and your medical history. You may also have physical and neurological exams, along with other tests such as:

• Blood tests, to measure the amount of waste products, such as creatinine and urea, in your blood
• Urine tests, to check the level of the protein albumin in your urine
• Imaging tests, such as ultrasound, MRI or CT scan, to assess your kidneys and look for unusual areas
• Removing a sample of kidney tissue (biopsy), to examine under a microscope to learn what type of kidney disease you have and how much damage there is

Certain tests might be repeated over time to help your provider follow the progress of your kidney disease.

Stages of kidney disease

There are five stages of kidney disease. To determine what stage you have, your health care provider performs a blood test to check your glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The GFR measures how much blood the kidneys filter each minute, recorded as milliliters per minute (mL/min). As the GFR declines, so does your kidney function.

When your kidneys no longer work at a level that’s necessary to keep you alive, you have end-stage renal disease. End-stage renal disease usually occurs when kidney function is less than 15% of typical kidney function.