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Follow-up of acute pyelonephritis: what causes the diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging recovery to lag clinical recovery?

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Abstract

Purpose

To analyze with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) the evolution and progress to resolution of acute pyelonephritis (APN) foci over a period of 3 months after onset.

Methods

30 women (age 22–51 years) with clinical, laboratory (white blood cell and C-reactive protein), and DW-MRI (4b-values 0, 50, 600, 1000 s/mm2) diagnosis of APN were prospectively enrolled. Two double-blinded radiologists evaluated the number of APN foci, and for each of them dimension (D), absolute diffusion coefficient (ADC), and its ratio R to the ADC of unaffected parenchyma. Signature of radiological recovery was focus no longer visible (DW−) and ADC of its site not inferior to the ADC of the unaffected parenchyma, i.e., R ≥ 0.9. Clinical and DW-MRI follow-ups (FU) were performed at 1 and 3 months.

Results

At the acute stage (t 0), 187 APN foci were found, with ADC0 = 1.3 ± 0.2 × 10−3 mm2/s, R 0 = 0.65 ± 0.12, and D 0 = 14 ± 7.5 mm. By the 1-month FU (t 1), all patients had no symptoms and physiological laboratory values; despite this, only 80 (43%) foci were solved, increasing to 138 (74%) by at the 3-month FU. The ROC curve (AUC ≥ 0.80) identified R 0 ≤ 0.6 and D 0 > 15 mm as forecast of slow radiologic resolution. About 80% of foci unsolved at 1 month but with R 1 ≥ 0.8 and D 1 ≤ 10 mm reached solution at 3 months.

Conclusions

DW-MRI recovery of APN foci does not always coincide with clinical recovery. The evolution of an APN focus is shaped by its initial values R 0 and D 0. About half of the foci still visible at 1 month reached radiological resolution in the two following months.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical Sciences, Radiology Institute, University of Turin, Via Genova 3, 10126, Turin, Italy

    Riccardo Faletti, Marco Gatti, Serena Bassano, Stefano Fiore, Maria Carla Cassinis & Paolo Fonio

  2. Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Laura Bergamasco

  3. SCDU Nephrology, Città della Salute e della Scienza, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Daniela Finocchietti & Loredana Colla

Authors
  1. Riccardo Faletti
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  2. Marco Gatti
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  3. Serena Bassano
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  4. Daniela Finocchietti
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  5. Stefano Fiore
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  6. Loredana Colla
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  7. Laura Bergamasco
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  8. Maria Carla Cassinis
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  9. Paolo Fonio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Gatti.

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Faletti, R., Gatti, M., Bassano, S. et al. Follow-up of acute pyelonephritis: what causes the diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging recovery to lag clinical recovery?. Abdom Radiol 43, 639–646 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-017-1242-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-017-1242-0

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