Quantitative parameters of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for assessment of renal pathology: A preliminary study in chronic kidney disease.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the severity of renal pathology in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) using contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (US).

METHODS: 275 patients with CKD who were proven by renal biopsy and 30 healthy adults were examined using conventional US and contrast-enhanced US. Ultrasonic parameters included renal length, cortical thickness, rise time (RT), peak intensity (PI), area under the time-intensity curve (AUC), wash-in slope (WIS) and time to peak (TTP). Based on pathological scores, CKD patients were classified into mild, and moderate to severe CKD groups. The logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used.

RESULTS: PI and AUC differed significantly among the controls, mild and moderate to severe CKD groups (P < 0.05). There was significant difference in PI among the different pathology types (P < 0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that PI was associated independently with the severity of renal pathology in patients with CKD (P < 0.05). PI less than 13.87 dB had a certain diagnostic ability, and the sensitivity and specificity were 72.5% and 64.0%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Contrast-enhanced US may be useful for noninvasive assessment of the severity of renal pathology. PI may be potentially valuable for guiding therapy and follow-up in patients with CKD.