Blood and lab tests
What Does eGFR Mean on a Blood Test?
eGFR (Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate) · say it: ee-jee-ef-ARAlso written: GFR, estimated GFR, kidney function estimate
Short answer
eGFR is an estimate of how well your kidneys filter waste from your blood, calculated from a creatinine blood test plus details like age.
What it means
The kidneys filter blood through millions of tiny units called glomeruli. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is how much blood they clean each minute. Measuring it directly is complicated, so labs estimate it, which is the "e" in eGFR.
The estimate comes from a formula that uses your blood creatinine level and other information such as age, and sometimes cystatin C, another blood marker. A higher eGFR generally means more filtering; a lower one means less.
Because it is an estimate, eGFR can be affected by muscle mass, hydration, diet and some medicines. Doctors usually look at it alongside other tests and over time rather than relying on one reading.
Where you may see it
- Kidney function or renal panels
- Basic and comprehensive metabolic panels
- Reports for people taking medicines that affect the kidneys
📄 How it looks on a report
eGFR 74 mL/min/1.73m2
🙅 What it does not mean
- A single low reading does not by itself mean kidney disease; doctors usually check whether a change lasts over several months.
- It is not an exact measurement. Very muscular people, people with very low muscle mass and people who are dehydrated can get misleading estimates.
- eGFR naturally tends to decline with age, so the same number can mean different things for different people.
🗒️ Questions to ask your doctor
🧾 Reports where you will see “eGFR (Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate)”
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💊 Medicines whose labels mention “eGFR (Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate)”
Plain-English explanations of each medicine, from its official FDA label.
- Dapagliflozin
a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, a type of diabetes medicine
- Enalapril
An angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor
- Metformin
a diabetes medicine of the biguanide type
🔗 Read more from trusted sources
- “eGFR (Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate)” on MedlinePlus ↗
US National Library of Medicine
- NCI Dictionary definition ↗
US National Cancer Institute: “egfr”
- MedlinePlus lab test guides ↗
US National Library of Medicine
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General information about a medical word, not advice about your own results. Ask the clinician who ordered the test what it means for you.