Letter Regarding “An Artificial Neural Network-Based Model to Predict Chronic Kidney Disease in Aged Cats”

I am writing regarding the article “An artificial neural network-based model to predict chronic kidney disease in aged cats” published in Volume 34, Issue 5 of Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (JVIM). The authors assess the ability of their model to predict the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) within 12 months using baseline laboratory data (serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and urine specific gravity) obtained from cats ≥ 7 years old. Azotemia was defined as a serum creatinine concentrations ≥ 2 mg/dL. I am wondering whether the authors could please specify the percentage of cats with a baseline serum creatinine concentration between 1.6 and 1.9 mg/dL that were included in the testing dataset. Because these cats would be classified as having International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) stage 2 CKD from the outset [1], the reported performance of the model may be inflated.

The author declares no conflicts of interest.