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Evaluation of renal parenchyma stiffness in children with nephropathy by shear wave elastography: A systematic review
Shixiang Yao1, Xiao Liu2, Hongying Wang1
1Department of Ultrasonography, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Insights
Shear wave elastography (SWE) did not show significant differences in renal parenchymal stiffness in children with nephropathy across studies. More high-quality research is needed to confirm its role in pediatric kidney disease assessment.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nephrology
- Medical Imaging
- Biophysics
Background:
- The utility of shear wave elastography (SWE) for assessing renal parenchymal stiffness in pediatric nephropathy remains unclear.
- This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify the role of SWE in this patient population.
Conclusions:
- While individual studies suggest potential differences, the pooled analysis did not confirm SWE's ability to detect significant changes in renal parenchymal stiffness in pediatric nephropathy.
- The heterogeneity and varying pathomechanisms of different kidney diseases limit current conclusions.
- Further well-designed, high-quality studies with larger sample sizes are required to establish the definitive role of SWE in assessing renal stiffness in children with kidney disease.
Background:
The role of shear wave elastography (SWE) in assessing renal parenchymal stiffness in children with nephropathy is obscure. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated this issue.
Materials And Methods:
PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases were searched for studies evaluating renal parenchyma stiffness in children with nephropathy by SWE from inception to October 2021. The search was not limited by language. Two investigators independently screened the literature and extracted data. Any discrepancies were resolved via discussion with the senior professor. Study quality was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the standardized mean difference of shear wave velocity (SWV) for the evaluation of renal parenchyma stiffness was determined.
Results:
Eight studies involving a total of 496 children with nephropathy and 353 healthy children were selected. Eight studies used SWV as parameters of renal parenchyma stiffness. The SWV was not significantly different in children with renal lesion than in those without renal lesion, with a standardized mean difference of 0.49 (95% confidence level, -0.40 to 1.39, p = 0.28). There was a high heterogeneity between studies.
Conclusion:
Although there was significant difference in SWE of renal parenchyma between controls and patients in each study we included, statistical differences were not seen after results of all research were amalgamated due to different diseases with different pathomechanisms. SWE could be used to evaluate renal parenchymal stiffness in children with kidney disease after more well-designed and high-quality studies with a large sample size will be performed in the future.
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