[Value of the urinary albumin/creatinine ratio in the detection of microalbuminuria].
Microalbuminuria is currently defined as a urinary albumin excretion rate of 20 to 200 micrograms per minute, measured in the urine of 24 hours. We present an indirect approach to the urinary albumin daily excretion rate which minimizes the errors due to chronometric measurement and to the difficulty of collecting 24-hour urine. The albumin (mg/l)/creatinine (mmol/l) ratio calculated in urine collected daily indicates microalbuminuria when it is higher than 2.97 in women and 2.48 in men. The interpretation of this ratio is discussed in terms of sensitivity, specificity and predictive value.