title: Quantitative elastography of renal transplants using supersonic shear imaging: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the reliability of quantitative ultrasonic measurement of renal allograft elasticity using supersonic shear imaging (SSI) and its relationship with parenchymal pathological changes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-three kidney transplant recipients (22 women, 21 men) (mean age, 51 years; age range, 18-70 years) underwent SSI elastography, followed by biopsy. The quantitative measurements of cortical elasticity were performed by two radiologists and expressed in terms of Young's modulus (kPa). Intra- and inter-observer reproducibility was assessed (Kruskal-Wallis test and Bland-Altman analysis), as well as the correlation between elasticity values and clinical, biological and pathological data (semi-quantitative Banff scoring). Interstitial fibrosis was evaluated semi-quantitatively by the Banff score and measured by quantitative image analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intra- and inter-observer variation coefficients of cortical elasticity were 20 % and 12 %, respectively. Renal cortical stiffness did not correlate with any clinical parameters, any single semi-quantitative Banff score or the level of interstitial fibrosis; however, a significant correlation was observed between cortical stiffness and the total Banff scores of chronic lesions and of all elementary lesions (R = 0.34, P = 0.05 and R = 0.41, P = 0.03,respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Quantitative measurement of renal cortical stiffness using SSI is a promising non-invasive tool to evaluate global histological deterioration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  • Supersonic shear imaging elastography can measure cortical stiffness in renal transplants                                                  • The level of cortical stiffness is correlated with the global degree of tissue lesions                                                  • The global histological deterioration of transplanted kidneys can be quantified using elastography.
authors.affiliation: Service d'Imagerie Diagnostique et Interventionnelle de l'Adulte, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux, Université Bordeaux Segalen, 33076, Bordeaux, France. nicolas.grenier@chu-bordeaux.fr
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Grenier
authors.forename: Séverine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poulain
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lepreux
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gennisson
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dallaudière
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lebras
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bavu
authors.forename: Aude
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Servais
authors.forename: Vannary
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Meas-Yedid
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piccoli
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bachelet
authors.forename: Mickaël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanter
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Merville
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Couzi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult