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Updated: Nov 4, 2025

Assessment of Vascular Function in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease
Published on: June 16, 2014
Assessment of kidney function in chronic kidney disease by combining diffusion tensor imaging and total kidney volume
Xue-Song Li1, Qing-Juan Zhang2, Jiang Zhu2
1Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Jiangning Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, No. 169, Hushan Road, Nanjing, 211100, Jiangsu Province, China.
Objective:
This study aimed to investigate the value and feasibility of combining fractional anisotropy (FA) values from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and total kidney volume (TKV) for the assessment of kidney function in chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Materials And Methods:
Fifty-one patients were included in this study. All MRI examinations were performed with a 3.0 T scanner. DTI was used to measure FA values, and TKV was obtained from DTI and T2-weighted imaging (T2WI). Patients were divided into three groups (mild, moderate, severe) according to eGFR, which was calculated with serum creatinine. Differences in the FA values of the cortex and medulla were analysed among the three groups, and the relationships of FA values, TKV, and the product of the FA values and TKV with eGFR were analysed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to compare the diagnostic efficiency of the FA values, TKV, and the product of the FA values and TKV for kidney function in different CKD stages.
Results:
Medullary FA values (m-FA), TKV, and the product of the m-FA values and TKV (m-FA-TKV) were significantly correlated with eGFR (r = 0.653, 0.685, and 0.797, respectively; all P < 0.001). ROC curve analysis showed that m-FA-TKV exhibited better diagnostic performance than m-FA values (P = 0.022).
Conclusion:
m-FA-TKV obtained by DTI significantly improves the accuracy of kidney function assessment in CKD patients.
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