Shear wave elastography in chronic kidney disease: a pilot experience in native kidneys

Area of Science:

• Nephrology
• Medical Imaging
• Biomarkers

Background:

• Non-invasive methods are needed to measure renal fibrosis.
• Shear wave elastography (SWE) assesses tissue stiffness.
• The study explores SWE's potential for detecting abnormal renal tissue.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if SWE-derived renal stiffness can serve as a non-invasive biomarker for renal fibrosis.
• To differentiate between normal and abnormal renal parenchymal tissue using SWE.

Main Methods:

• Participants with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and healthy volunteers underwent SWE.
• Renal elasticity was quantified as Young's modulus (YM) in kilopascals (kPa).
• Statistical analysis involved univariate Wilcoxon rank-sum tests.

Main Results:

• Patients with CKD exhibited significantly higher median YM (9.40 kPa) compared to healthy controls (4.40 kPa).
• Increased intra-subject variability in YM measurements was observed in the CKD group.
• These differences were statistically significant (p=0.002 for YM, p<0.001 for variability).

Conclusions:

• SWE-derived renal stiffness and measurement variability are elevated in CKD patients.
• Increased YM suggests renal fibrosis as a likely cause.
• Further research is needed to correlate YM with renal fibrosis severity.