title: Intravascular Doppler technique for monitoring renal venous blood flow in man.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To measure renal blood flow (RBF) from the renal veins in men using the intravascular Doppler technique (IVD).
  
  
  METHODS
  In nine hypertensive male patients (age 46-64 years) undergoing diagnostic renal artery angiography and renal vein catheterization to determine plasma renin activity (PRA), a 3F Doppler catheter was positioned in the renal veins using a 7F guide catheter with a "basket" shaped tip. The radiopaque sectors of the catheter, leaning against the vessel wall, serve to measure the internal diameter of renal veins, and therefore to calculate RBF, by multiplying renal vein cross-sectional area by mean blood flow velocity. The resulting RBF from the left and right renal veins were compared with those obtained by the local thermodilution method (TD).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found good agreement (Bland and Altman's method) between the RBF measurements made with IVD (ranging from 46 mL/min to 1,220 mL/min) and with the TD technique (45-1,030 mL/min) (mean bias, 13+/-20 mL/min, 95% CI -54.77 to 28.77 mL/min). In stenotic kidneys a significant correlation was found between the renal vein PRA and RBF calculated with both methods (IVD: r = 0.96, p = 0.002; TD: r = 0.90, p = 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The IVD technique applied to the venous side of the renal circulation provides a simple and reliable method for separate measurement of RBF in kidneys with and without renal artery stenosis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of General Clinical Medicine and Therapy, University of Milan, Centre for Clinical Physiology and Hypertension, Maggiore Hospital Milan, IRCCS, Milan, Italy. robert.paliotti@unimi.it
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paliotti
authors.forename: Michele M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ciulla
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Buonamici
authors.forename: Mariavittoria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barelli
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morganti
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Magrini
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002404:Catheterization; D006801:Humans; D006978:Hypertension, Renovascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods; D015588:Observer Variation; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011859:Radiography; D012078:Renal Artery Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012079:Renal Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D012082:Renal Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013815:Thermodilution; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional / Q000379:methods*