We reviewed 224 consecutive patients with a normal contralateral kidney who underwent radical nephrectomy for a renal mass at a tertiary care center between 2002 and 2010. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify independent predictors of renal function.
Mean patient age at time of surgery was 62.6 years and 58% of patients were male. On multivariate analysis, preoperative GFR and diabetes mellitus (DM) were independent predictors of 1-year postoperative renal function. Every 1.0 mL/min/1.73 m2 of preoperative GFR corresponded to a loss of 0.50 mL/min/1.73 m2 following extirpative renal surgery. Diabetic patients had a further decrease in GFR of 4.5 mL/min/1.73 m2 (95% confidence interval 1.5-7.6) compared to patients without DM.
Preoperative GFR and DM were independent predictors of postoperative renal function. This may represent a proportion of patients with medical renal disease that is not identified on the basis of preoperative GFR alone.