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Assessment of kidney function in chronic kidney disease by combining diffusion tensor imaging and total kidney volume

  • Nephrology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the value and feasibility of combining fractional anisotropy (FA) values from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and total kidney volume (TKV) for the assessment of kidney function in chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Materials and methods

Fifty-one patients were included in this study. All MRI examinations were performed with a 3.0 T scanner. DTI was used to measure FA values, and TKV was obtained from DTI and T2-weighted imaging (T2WI). Patients were divided into three groups (mild, moderate, severe) according to eGFR, which was calculated with serum creatinine. Differences in the FA values of the cortex and medulla were analysed among the three groups, and the relationships of FA values, TKV, and the product of the FA values and TKV with eGFR were analysed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to compare the diagnostic efficiency of the FA values, TKV, and the product of the FA values and TKV for kidney function in different CKD stages.

Results

Medullary FA values (m-FA), TKV, and the product of the m-FA values and TKV (m-FA-TKV) were significantly correlated with eGFR (r = 0.653, 0.685, and 0.797, respectively; all P < 0.001). ROC curve analysis showed that m-FA-TKV exhibited better diagnostic performance than m-FA values (P = 0.022).

Conclusion

m-FA-TKV obtained by DTI significantly improves the accuracy of kidney function assessment in CKD patients.

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Funding

This work was supported by The Science and Technology Development Fund Project of Nanjing Medical University (NMUB2019242).

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Author notes

  1. Xue-Song Li, Qing-Juan Zhang and Jiang Zhu contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Jiangning Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, No. 169, Hushan Road, Nanjing, 211100, Jiangsu Province, China

    Xue-Song Li, Qing-Qing Zhou, Yu-Sheng Yu, Zhang-Chun Hu, Zi-Yi Xia, Liang Wei & Hong Zhang

  2. Department of Nephrology, The Affiliated Jiangning Hospital with Nanjing Medicine University, No. 169, Hushan Road, Nanjing, 211100, Jiangsu Province, China

    Qing-Juan Zhang & Jiang Zhu

  3. Department of Radiology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, No. 68, Changle Road, Nanjing, 210006, Jiangsu Province, China

    Xin-Dao Yin

Authors
  1. Xue-Song Li
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  2. Qing-Juan Zhang
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  3. Jiang Zhu
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  4. Qing-Qing Zhou
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  8. Liang Wei
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  9. Xin-Dao Yin
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  10. Hong Zhang
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Contributions

Conceptualization: X-SL, HZ, Q-JZ, JZ. Methodology: Z-CH, Z-YX, LW. Formal analysis and investigation: X-SL, Q-QZ. Writing—original draft preparation: X-SL. Writing—review and editing: Q-QZ, X-DY. Funding acquisition: X-SL, Y-SY. Supervision: HZ, Y-SY.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hong Zhang.

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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Li, XS., Zhang, QJ., Zhu, J. et al. Assessment of kidney function in chronic kidney disease by combining diffusion tensor imaging and total kidney volume. Int Urol Nephrol 54, 385–393 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-021-02886-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-021-02886-8

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