Objective/Aim: The aim of this research is to find out how often renal insufficiency occurs in patients who have a normal level of serum creatinine and are undergoing coronary angiography, through the estimation of their glomerular filtration rate (GFR).

Background: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease is high and continues to grow worldwide, leading to a significant number of patients needing cardiac catheterization. These procedures may result in various pre and post procedural complications; contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) is one of them and is associated with prolonged hospitalization and adverse clinical outcomes.

Materials and Methods: This Cross sectional study was conducted in the Cardiology and Cardiac Catheterization departments of Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore. For Six months from June 2012 to November 2012. Four hundred and fifty patients fulfilling the inclusion were selected for this study. The effect modifiers (Diabetes mellitus and Hypertension) were addressed by stratification. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated for each patient using the Cockcroft-Gault (C-G) equation and a Glomerular Filtration Rate <80 ml/min was labeled as renal insufficiency.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 52.6±9.4 years. The mean serum creatinine of the patients was 0.9±0.2 mg/dl. The mean GFR of the patients was 102.9±31.0 ml/min. There were 107 (23.8%) patients in the GFR range of <80 ml/min and 343 (76.2%) patients of GFR range of >80 ml/min. There were 107 (23.8%) patients had renal insufficiency and 343 (76.2%) patients had not found renal insufficiency.

Conclusion: The study has determined that certain patients who have normal levels of serum creatinine may have an abnormal GFR. Although serum creatinine is a crucial screening test for individuals with renal impairment, their renal function could still be impaired while their serum creatinine levels remain within the normal range.

Keywords: Renal insufficiency, GFR, serum creatinine, coronary angiography