title: Measuring the volume density of the glomerular mesangium.
abstract: Volume density (Vv) is a morphometric parameter used to detect pathological changes within renal tissue. To establish the most efficient technique, Vv of the mesangium in renal biopsies was studied. First, a digitizing tablet was used to trace mesangial and total glomerular areas, subsequently used to calculate Vv of the mesangium. Secondly, a point counting technique was tested using either a 16-point or an 81-point grid; the number of grid points falling on the mesangium and glomerulus was used to calculate mesangial Vv. The digitizing tablet, the 81-point grid and the 16-point grid all gave equivalent Vv for the 15 biopsies. The 81-point grid and the 16-point grid were, respectively, 1.9 and 3.2-fold faster than the digitizing tablet. Since all techniques gave comparable results, the 16-point grid was the most efficient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic, Minneapolis.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Basgen
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Rich
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mauer
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Steffes
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005920:Glomerular Mesangium / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D012016:Reference Values