---

The protein-creatinine ratio was introduced twenty five years ago as an alternative to the cumbersome and time consuming 24-hour urine collection for the quantitation of proteinuria. Over the years, many studies have been conducted to assess the correlation between the protein-creatinine ratio and 24-hour urinary protein excretion, but there is still a lack of consensus on the correlation between the two at different values of protein excretion and in different disease states. This book provides a detailed analysis of the protein-creatinine ratio how it developed, its use in the current scenario and the possibilities for its use in the future. The protein-creatinine ratio, 24-hour urinary protein excretion and dipstick protein levels are compared over the entire range of proteinuria in a wide variety of diseases. The analysis should prove useful to medical students, clinicians, other professionals working in the health sector and anybody else wishing to learn about simple methods for the assessment of kidney function.

---

Dr. Jim Joe, M.D. (Biochemistry) completed his bachelor s degree in medicine at Government Medical College, Trivandrum; and obtained his doctorate in medicine from St. John s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore. He is currently working as Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at Travancore Medical College, Kollam, Kerala, India.

---