Assessment of renal function with color Doppler ultrasound in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.
BACKGROUND
Measurement of renal blood flow by color Doppler ultrasound is useful for assessment of renal function in a variety of renal disorders. In autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), however, it might be difficult to visualize interlobar arteries because of deformity of renal structure. To evaluate the usefulness of color Doppler in ADPKD, parameters determined by blood flow examination were compared with the results of ordinal renal function tests.


METHODS
Twenty-one patients with ADPKD were examined by color Doppler ultrasound measurement. In each patient, 10 interlobar arteries in both kidneys were investigated. Minimum blood flow velocity (Vmin), maximum blood flow velocity (Vmax), mean blood flow velocity (Vmean), acceleration, resistive index and pulsatility index were measured in relation to the results of creatinine clearance, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and 15 and 120 min values of the phenolsulfonphthalein test.


RESULTS
In all patients, interlobar arteries were able to be visualized and blood-flow profile was measured. Although variations of Vmin, Vmax, Vmean and acceleration were relatively large, the resistive index and pulsatility index varied little in each kidney. Mean values of Vmin (P < 0.005), Vmean (P < 0.05), resistive index (P < 0.005) and pulsatility index (P < 0.005) were well correlated to creatinine clearance with statistical significance.


CONCLUSIONS
In ADPKD, color Doppler ultrasound measurement is a useful method for assessment of renal function and could be used for monitoring the dynamic state of renal blood flow as a non-invasive technique.
Department of Urology, Chiba University School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan.
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Kondo
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Akakura
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Ito
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016891:Polycystic Kidney, Autosomal Dominant / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color