Should clinical laboratories adapt to the reality of chronic kidney disease in the determination of parathyroid hormone?

Objectives: The contribution of the clinical laboratory to diagnostics is increasingly important since a great deal of clinical decisions rely on laboratory test results.

Content: Parathyroid hormone (PTH) measurement presents a considerable analytical variability due to the heterogeneity of its circulating forms and the antigenic configuration of the different assays commercially available. Such variability may have an impact on pathological conditions associated with significant increases in circulating PTH, as it is the case of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Summary: Despite the recent identification of new molecules involved in bone and mineral disorders associated with CKD, such as klotho or the fibroblastic factor 23 (FGF23), nephrologists still base their clinical decisions on PTH concentrations. The problem is that unawareness of these analytical considerations may cause errors in the clinical interpretation of test results.

Outlook: This systematic review addresses these issues from the clinical laboratory perspective and proposes new approaches related to PTH method selection and result expression. These new strategies will help laboratory medicine specialists and nephrologist better determine the status of CKD patients.