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Author Spotlight: Developing a Bedside Protocol for Kidney and Genitourinary Ultrasonography
Published on: June 21, 2024
Sodium (23Na) MRI of the Kidney: Basic Concept
James T Grist1, Esben Søvsø Hansen2, Frank G Zöllner3
1Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Abstract:
The handling of sodium by the renal system is a key indicator of renal function. Alterations in the corticomedullary distribution of sodium are considered important indicators of pathology in renal diseases. The derangement of sodium handling can be noninvasively imaged using sodium magnetic resonance imaging (23Na MRI), with data analysis allowing for the assessment of the corticomedullary sodium gradient. Here we introduce sodium imaging, describe the existing methods, and give an overview of preclinical sodium imaging applications to illustrate the utility and applicability of this technique for measuring renal sodium handling.This chapter is based upon work from the COST Action PARENCHIMA, a community-driven network funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program of the European Union, which aims to improve the reproducibility and standardization of renal MRI biomarkers. This introduction chapter is complemented by two separate chapters describing the experimental procedure and data analysis.
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