title: Assessment of renal impairment by non-contrast-enhanced conventional magnetic resonance imaging: comparison with ⁹⁹mTc-DTPA renography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine whether non-contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect three levels of renal impairment by evaluating the differences and agreement with (99m)Tc-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) renography.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 28 patients with kidney disease were enrolled in the study. MRI findings, including visual corticomedullary differentiation (CMD) on T1- and T2-weighted imaging (T1WI, T2WI), cortical irregularity, the number of renal cysts, and the volume of the kidney, were evaluated for individual kidneys and pairs of kidneys. The differences and agreement between MRI findings and the three levels of renal impairment based on the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measured using (99m)Tc-DTPA renography were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All MRI findings except the number of renal cysts in pairs of kidneys were consistent with the patient's classification. The agreement between the patient's classifications based on GFR and that based on the visual CMD on T1WI and T2WI was almost perfect or substantial in both individual kidneys and pairs of kidneys.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Non-contrast-enhanced MRI was capable of distinguishing three levels of renal function, including serious renal impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8603, Japan. hidaka_0424_fu@ybb.ne.jp
authors.forename: Fumitaka
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hidaka
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: Katsuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahama
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Ryusuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Onozawa
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumita
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA