[Renal insufficiency with AIDS: ultrasonographic aspects]

Renal pathologic changes in AIDS involve various factors and can also occur in several other forms of renal disease. Renal sonography was prospectively performed in 31 patients with laboratory evidence of AIDS and renal insufficiency. All patients included in this study were without clinical manifestations (group II of the CDC) and without risk factors of AIDS.

to characterize renal pathologic changes underlying the sonographic findings in these patients. Sonographic evaluation included determination of renal sizes and renal echogenicity according to standard grading system. Sonography showed normal-sized or enlarge-sized kidneys. Enlarged kidneys were generally due to increased thickness rather than length or width; small-sized kidneys were not observed. Grading echogenicity showed: grade 0 in 3 patients, grade I in none, grade II in 11 patients and grade III in 17 patients. In six patients, we found "spotted" echostructural figure due to several hypoechoic and rounded zones. Echogenicity increased with the severity of renal insufficiency. Our study suggests that renal abnormalities are varied and can occur in all stages in the course of the disease. The particular "spotted" figure associated with enlarged size at the expense of thickness of kidneys must draw radiologist's attention to the probability of AIDS lesions. Further studies with large populations must be performed to confirm our observations.