Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Oct 10, 2015; 6(5): 89-91
Published online Oct 10, 2015. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v6.i5.89
Significant methodologic variations in calculating renal function changes following kidney tumor surgery: A quality reporting issue?
Ruth D Blum, Jay D Raman
Ruth D Blum, Jay D Raman, Division of Urology, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA 17033, United States
Author contributions: Raman JD designed research; Blum RD performed research; Raman JD analyzed data; Raman JD and Blum RD wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest from either author regarding the material provided in this publication.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Jay D Raman, MD, Associate Professor, Division of Urology, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, 500 University Drive, c4830F, Hershey, PA 17033, United States. jraman@hmc.psu.edu
Telephone: +1-717-5316969 Fax: +1-717-5314475
Received: January 31, 2015
Peer-review started: February 5, 2015
First decision: April 27, 2015
Revised: July 3, 2015
Accepted: July 29, 2015
Article in press: August 3, 2015
Published online: October 10, 2015
Processing time: 255 Days and 21.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Accurate assessment of renal function changes following kidney tumor surgery is essential for quantifying the degree of decline attributable to an index procedure. Current studies, however, demonstrate significant heterogeneity in the timing and calculated formulas used for determining kidney function changes. These variations in methodology significantly confound interpretations regarding the impact of surgical technique on global renal function. Standardization of the reporting process is essential to more accurately characterize and potentially modify aspects of surgical care that can benefit from improvement.