Value of virtual touch tissue quantification in stages of diabetic kidney disease

The purpose of this study was to evaluate Virtual Touch tissue quantification (VTQ; Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany) in stages of diabetic kidney disease.

A total of 120 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were divided into 3 groups according to their urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR): normoalbuminuria (ACR <30 mg/g of creatinine), microalbuminuria (ACR 30-300 mg/g), and macroalbuminuria (ACR ≥ 300 mg/g and estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥30 mL/min/1.73 m(2)). Thirty volunteers served as controls. Virtual Touch tissue quantification was performed in the 4 groups to determine the shear wave velocity (SWV) of the renal cortex, and changes in the SWV were compared between the groups. Correlation analysis was performed between the SWV and ACR in the type 2 diabetes groups.

When SWVs were compared, there was no significant difference between the normoalbuminuria and control group (P = .40), but there was a significant difference between the microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria groups and the control group (P < .05). There was also a significant difference between each pair of type 2 diabetes groups (P < .05). The correlation coefficient for the SWV and log(ACR) in type 2 diabetes was 0.773 (P < .05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve for SWV diagnosis of diabetes complicated by renal injury was 0.93; the best cutoff point, sensitivity, and specificity were 2.43 m/s, 85.7%, and 84.5%, respectively.

It is feasible to use VTQ to determine the renal cortical SWV for judging renal injury in type 2 diabetes mellitus. The SWV increases as the renal injury progresses and thus plays an important role in diabetic kidney disease stages.