Can dimercaptosuccinic acid renal scintigraphy be used to assess global renal function?

Use of dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) has been proposed for the assessment of both relative and absolute renal function. Our aim was to test whether the renal absolute DMSA uptake (ADU) can reflect the absolute renal function from a theoretical point of view. A simple model was used to compute the ADU in the case of injury to one kidney. It was found that the assumption that ADU correctly reflects the absolute renal function may lead to a more than 50% overestimation of the function of both the normal and the impaired kidney. The later the measurement is made and the more impaired is the kidney, the more important is the error. Although DMSA can reliably quantify the relative renal function, it should not be used to assess absolute renal function lest major overestimation should occur.