Background: It has been previously established that the measurement of urine protein: creatinine ratios (UPC) in pooled samples is superior in assessing proteinuria as compared to individual samples. However, the mainstay of monitoring proteinuria in patients receiving toceranib currently relies on analysis of a single urine sample. This practice lends to the potential for underestimating proteinuria. Hypothesis/
Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the agreement between pooled and single sample UPC in dogs receiving toceranib. Animals: As of abstract submission, 23 “events” are evaluable. Each visit for client-owned dogs receiving toceranib was considered one “event”.
Methods: This is a prospective observational study of dogs receiving toceranib for the treatment of neoplasia. Urine samples were collected for three days prior to scheduled visits. An individual UPC measurement was obtained from the sample taken the morning of the visit, as well as from the pooling of all three samples. Additional diagnostics include a complete blood count, serum biochemistry, urinalysis, and blood pressure measurement.
Results: The Bland-Altman plot was used to describe the agreement between pooled and single UPC measurements. Using this method, the average difference was -0.02 with 95% confidence interval of -0.316 – 0.273. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: There is adequate agreement in measurements of UPC for single versus pooled samples for dogs receiving toceranib. Thus, collection of a single urine sample is appropriate for monitoring of non-proteinuric dogs. A prospective study evaluating agreement in a population of proteinuric dogs would be needed to further validate these findings.
