Kidney Health Australia Position Statements  

From time to time Kidney Health Australia publish Position Statements on various kidney related subjects.  Each statement is developed by expert health professionals, approved by the Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee and reviewed by our Board of Directors.  You’ll also find links below to guidelines developed by Kidney Health Australia in collaboration with other organizations.

All documents on this site are current.  Each year MSAC review these position statements and recommend that they be either reaffirmed, revised, or retired.  Retired statements are removed from the website.

Chronic kidney disease and automatic reporting of estimated glomerular filtration rate: revised recommendations  
Australasian Creatinine Consensus Working Group (2007)
Recommendations which build on the original 2005 Position Statement and consolidate the role of eGFR in clinical practice. 

Chronic kidney disease and automatic reporting of estimated glomerular filtration rate 
Australasian Creatinine Consensus Working Group (2005)
Recommendations for automatic reporting of estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formula with every serum creatinine test ordered in adults. 

Effects of fluoridation of community water supplies for people with chronic kidney disease
Ludlow, Luxton, Mathew et al. Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. 2007; 0: gfm477v1-5

Literature review (authored by KHA Medical Director’s office) on flouride in drinking water and chronic kidney disease which suggests there is no conclusive evidence that the consumption of fluoridated community water poses any risks for people with chronic kidney disease, but more research is required.  Click to download  Fluoride Position Statement.

Correspondence and offprint requests to: Dr Tim Mathew, Kidney Health Australia, GPO Box 9993, Adelaide, SA 5001 tim.mathew@kidney.org.au

Kidney Health Australia position on water drinking 
The desirable amount of water to drink each day has been promoted to the public in recent years to be 8 glasses each of 8oz (=240ml) each 24-hour period. This view has been publicised by water authorities and bottled water manufacturers with endorsement of this view by Kidney Health Australia. 

A critical review of the evidence supporting this position was conducted in 2003.  A distinct lack of evidence supporting the 8 X 8 glasses of water each day policy was found to exist in the published literature.

Dialysis Nephrology Transplantation (DNT) Endorsed Position Statements

There has been recent discussion about the need for clinical alerts and notification of new and important data to the Australian and New Zealand Nephrology community. The DNT sub-committee has undertaken to review urgent and important issues and notify ANZSN members with clinical reviews and position statements. See below the first of these statements.

New recommendations for use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in kidney patients This is an excellent review of the literature about Gadolinium Contrast and NSF written by members of the Departments of Radiology and Nephrology at Auckland City Hospital and includes clinical recommendations for the use of Gadolinium Contrast in MRI.