Determining the effects of excess weight on renal cortical stiffness in children and adolescents with point Shear Wave Elastography

Abstract

Aim: To determine the early effects of excess weight on renal cortical stiffness in children and adolescents using point shear wave elastography (pSWE). Materials and methods: One hundred and forty-six overweight and obese children (43.2% male; mean age, 12.6±2.9 years: range 4.3-18) and 48 lean children (27.1% male: mean age, 12.4±3.4: range 4.8-18.9) were included in the study and control group, respectively. pSWE measurements of the two kidneys were performed. The mean value of shear wave velocity was compared between groups. Results: The mean shear wave velocity was 2.79±0.53 m/s for the control subjects and 3.09±0.59 m/s for the overweight-obese subjects. The differences between the two groups were sta-tistically significant (p=0.001). There was no correlation between shear wave velocity and age or depth. A positive correlation was found between shear wave velocity and body mass index, body mass index-standard deviation score. Conclusion: Renal cortical stiffness was higher in children with excess weight than in lean children. This study is the first attempt at applying pSWE to investigate the early adverse effects of excess weight.

Evaluation of renal parenchyma stiffness in children with nephropathy by shear wave elastography: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The eight selected studies included 496 children with nephropathy and 353 controls, published between 2013 1 and 2021 8–10 . Tables 1 and 2 display the characteristic information of the included studies.…”

“…SWV was used as the outcome indicator for all studies. Regarding equipment five studies performed ultrasound elastography using the Acuson S2000 system (Siemens), 1,10,12–14 one using the Acuson S3000 (Siemens), 8 one using the iU Elite (Philips), 11 and one using the AixPlorer (SuperSonic Imagine SA) 9 . In all studies, convex probes were applied for examination.…”

“…Regarding the posture used during the examination, three studies used lateral decubitus positions, 10,12,13 three used a prone position, 9,11,14 one used a supine position, 1 and one used a supine position for the right kidney and lateral decubitus position for the left kidney 8 . For the choice of measurement location, three studies selected the upper, middle, and lower poles of the kidney, 1,10,13 two studies selected only the middle pole of the kidney, 12,14 two studies selected only the lower pole of the kidney, 9,11 and one study selected the middle third of the renal cortex 8 . Of the eight included studies, five had one operator to perform all ultrasound examinations, 1,8–11 and three had two operators 12–14 .…”

“…For the choice of measurement location, three studies selected the upper, middle, and lower poles of the kidney, 1,10,13 two studies selected only the middle pole of the kidney, 12,14 two studies selected only the lower pole of the kidney, 9,11 and one study selected the middle third of the renal cortex 8 . Of the eight included studies, five had one operator to perform all ultrasound examinations, 1,8–11 and three had two operators 12–14 . Among the included studies, operators in five studies had at least 8 years of experience in ultrasonography, and some operators even had more than 2 years of experience in elastic ultrasonography 1,8,9,12,14 .…”

“…Of the eight included studies, five had one operator to perform all ultrasound examinations, 1,8–11 and three had two operators 12–14 . Among the included studies, operators in five studies had at least 8 years of experience in ultrasonography, and some operators even had more than 2 years of experience in elastic ultrasonography 1,8,9,12,14 . The remaining three studies did not account for operators' ultrasound experience 10,11,13 …”