Aims and objectives
Due to,
among other things,
the risks associated with ionizing radiation,
contrast media in patients with impaired renal function and the possible risk of cerebral Gadolinium deposition there is a need for non-radiative,
non-invasive methods to image renal physiological parameters.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide biomarkers for kidney function that are non-invasive and relatively fast to assess.
Before use in pathological conditions,
baseline renal characteristics of a healthy population must be obtained.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the non-invasive MRI techniques...
Methods and materials
The Institutional Review Board approved all protocols and informed written consent was obtained from every subject before being enrolled in the study.
Twenty-eight healthy volunteers (13 male,
15 female) were recruited and underwent an MRI-examination using a 3T MRI-scanner (Philips,
Achieva,
Best,
The Netherlands) to yield Phase contrast,
ASL,
BOLD,
and diffusion sequences.
Also,
a T1 sequence was obtained for anatomical orientation and detail.
Analyses of total renal blood flow (RBF) by phase contrast,
regional RBF by ASL,
oxygenation level by BOLD and water diffusion...
Results
Total renal blood flow by Phase contrast MRI.
Total renal blood flow was obtained in 26 subjects (14 females,
12 males).
In two of the 28 original study subjects phase contrast measurements could not be done due to technical issues with the scanner.
Total RBF in females was 467±155 ml/min in the right kidney and 453±166 ml/min in the left kidney.
In males the corresponding values were 543±169 ml/min and 564±78 ml/min,
respectively.
No significant difference in blood flow was found between left and right...
Conclusion
In this study we find that non-invasive measurements of physiologically relevant renal parameters using MRI techniques phase contrast,
ASL,
BOLD and diffusion are reliable and able to detect significant intrarenal heterogenity in blood flow,
oxygenation and diffusion.
We also find that total renal blood flow is significantly correlated to body surface area and to BMI.
No significant differences regarding total RBF,
regional RBF,
oxygenation level or diffusion were found when comparing the right and left kidney or between the genders.
Personal information
Per Eckerbom,
MD
Head of Section for Molecular and Thoracic imaging.
Centre for medical imaging
Uppsala university hospital
SE-751 85 Uppsala
Sweden
E-mail:
[email protected]
References
1: Khatir DS et al,
Evaluation of Renal Blood Flow and Oxygenation in CKD Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
Am J Kidney Dis. 2015 Sep;66(3):402-11.
2: Boss A et al,
High resolution MR perfusion imaging of the kidneys at 3 Tesla without administration of contrast media.
Rofo. 2005 Dec;177(12):1625-30.
3: Rossi C et al, Histogram analysis of renal arterial spin labeling perfusion data reveals differences between volunteers and patients with mild chronic kidney disease.
Invest Radiol. 2012 Aug;47(8):490-6.
4: Wenbo Xiao et al,
Functional evaluation of...
