Quantitative evaluation of functional renal volume in normal children based on [123I]hippuran gamma camera renography

Images of the kidneys at 1-2 min after injection in [123I]hippuran gamma camera renography were used to find the functional renal volume. The method consists of a summation of the small volumes represented by each pixel in the activity images of the kidneys stored in the computer. In principle, the functional renal volume can therefore be calculated for any renal shape but the paper deals predominantly with normal kidneys. The method described is a by-product of gamma camera renography and is considered valuable for monitoring kidney growth in the normal child. It is believed that the method is also useful for determination of normal/pathological renal volume in patients with renal diseases who have normal/quasi-normal renal shapes.