Should renal color Doppler ultrasonography be a routine test in newly diagnosed hypertensive patient?

Costas Tsioufis1, Ioannis Andrikou1, Menno Pruijm2

  • 1First Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital Athens, Greece.

Journal of Hypertension
|August 18, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Renal ultrasound can help identify kidney-related secondary hypertension and detect kidney injury in hypertensive patients. This noninvasive imaging may improve the evaluation of newly diagnosed hypertension.

Area of Science:

  • Nephrology
  • Cardiology
  • Radiology

Background:

  • Current hypertension guidelines emphasize estimated glomerular filtration rate and urinary albumin excretion rate for patient evaluation.
  • Renal ultrasound is a noninvasive, accessible, and cost-effective imaging technique.
  • It can identify causes of secondary hypertension and detect renal injury.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence supporting the expanded use of renal ultrasound in evaluating patients with newly diagnosed hypertension.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing clinical evidence and guidelines.
  • Analysis of renal ultrasound's diagnostic capabilities in hypertension.

Main Results:

  • Renal ultrasound can detect common causes of secondary hypertension originating from the kidney.
  • It can identify renal injury in severe or long-standing essential hypertension using renal resistive indexes.

Conclusions:

  • Renal ultrasound offers valuable insights beyond standard tests for hypertensive patients.
  • Increased utilization of renal ultrasound in the initial work-up of hypertension is supported by current evidence.

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