The NGAL Test for early diagnosis of acute kidney injury

Three published observational studies involving a total of 46 patients were identified.

It is not clear whether the clinical utility of The NGAL Test is at least equivalent to current diagnostic methods.

The current clinical evidence has not measured any outcomes relating to patient safety and no adverse events have been reported.

The average cost is £24 per NGAL Test.

One study assessed the cost effectiveness of a different urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) biomarker for diagnosing acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery in patients in the UK compared with current diagnostic methods.

The NGAL strategy was more cost effective than current practice in the base case and sensitivity analysis. However this evidence is of uncertain value because it only looked at urinary NGAL.

The NGAL test is intended to be used with an automated clinical chemistry analyser by qualified laboratory staff.