["Arterial time" in intravenous urography: a critical study (author's transl)]

A prospective study was conducted, in order to establish the precise "arterial time" during intravenous urography, by employing a very precise technique in three groups of patients. The first group had a standard film taken, centered on the kidneys during "arterial time", after the intravenous injection of a contrast medium bolus, followed by a second film with the same centering as rapidly as possible after the previous film. Zonography during "arterial time" in the plane of the arteries was conducted in the second group, and this was followed by three successive tomographic sections in the parenchymatous planes as rapidly as possible. A third group, acting as controls, had a simple film taken, centered on the kidneys during ideal "nephrographic time" (arterial time + 10 seconds). A double-blind technique was used to analyse the results. The arterial film of intravenous urography, whatever the technique employed, has several inconveniences and, above all, certain limitations. Though it is of undoubted value in some cases, it should be employed with caution in certain precise cases, and should not be given an absolute definitive value without due reflection. The interest of a urography examination, which may not have detected a lesion, should not be underestimated, as it can still supply very explicit information suggesting the presence of a renal artery disorder.