Functional MRI: evaluation of chronic kidney disease with perfusion imaging.

Rationale and Objectives To evaluate the functional alterations of chronic kidney disease (CKD) with magnetic resonance dynamic perfusion imaging. Materials and methods Twenty-one healthy subjects (42 kidneys) and 20 CKD patients (40 kidneys) underwent routine scans with fat-saturated T1-weighted fast low angle shot (FLASH) and true-fast imaging with steady-state precession (FISP) sequences followed by dynamic perfusion scans using a turbo-FLASH T1-weighted sequence. Signal intensity (SI) of the cortex and medulla on images was measured and plotted as a function of time. Peak height (P) and time to peak (T) of the cortex and medulla SI were estimated, and P/T ratio and the area under the time-intensity curves were calculated. We also tested the correlation between these data and serum creatinine (sCr) levels in patients. Results P, P/T ratio, and the area under the curve of patients' cortex and medulla were significantly decreased compared to control subjects, and T was delayed. In patients, P and P/T ratio of the cortex and P of the medulla were negatively correlated with sCr levels ( r = −0.469, r = −0.419, and r = −0.423, respectively; P Conclusion Renal dysfunction in CKD can be evaluated by magnetic resonance dynamic perfusion imaging.