MR urography in children. Part 1: how we do the F0 technique.
MR urography (MRU) has been widely accepted as a substitute to intravenous urography for investigating children with a dilated urinary tract after preliminary assessment by US and voiding cystourethrography. Hydronephrosis is by far the main indication for MRU because upper tract dilatation is a frequent condition in infants and children. Recent advances in technology have allowed MR to go beyond morphology and to assess renal function parameters such as split renal function and drainage. In this article we report our routine practice of the F0 MRU technique. The main advantages of our protocol are no requirement for general anaesthesia, no bladder catheterization, use of low-dose gadolinium-based contrast agent (0.05-0.1 mmol/kg) and total acquisition time of 30 min or less.
Vivier
Pierre-Hugues
PH
Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Rouen, 1 rue de Germont, Rouen, 76031, France.
Dolores
Michael
M
Taylor
Melissa
M
Elbaz
Frederic
F
Liard
Agnes
A
Dacher
Jean-Nicolas
JN
D000465:Algorithms; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D006869:Hydronephrosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012984:Software; D014551:Urinary Tract / Q000473:pathology*; D014567:Urography / Q000379:methods; D014570:Urologic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*