Predictive value of cystatin C for the identification of illness severity in adult patients in a mixed intensive care unit.

Objectives: This study compared serum cystatin C (CysC) with conventional biomarkers of renal function in terms of their ability to predict illness severity in patients in a mixed intensive care unit (ICU). The present study also tested the hypothesis that increased CysC could predict illness severity in different clinical conditions in adult patients admitted to the ICU.

Design And Methods: The performance of serum creatinine, urea and CysC, as well as the Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) estimates (Cockcroft-Gault/MDRD/Larsson and CKD-EPI Equations) in predicting illness severity was compared in 60 critically ill patients.