Phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging to assess renal perfusion: a systematic review and statement paper

Abstract

Objective Phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) is a non-invasive method used to compute blood flow velocity and volume. This systematic review aims to discuss the current status of renal PC-MRI and provide practical recommendations which could inform future clinical studies and its adoption in clinical practice. Methodology A comprehensive search of all the PC-MRI studies in human healthy subjects or patients related to the kidneys was performed. Results A total of 39 studies were included in which PC-MRI was used to measure renal blood flow (RBF) alongside other derivative hemodynamic parameters. PC-MRI generally showed good correlation with gold standard methods of RBF measurement, both in vitro and in vivo, and good reproducibility. Despite PC-MRI not being routinely used in clinical practice, there are several clinical studies showing its potential to support diagnosis and monitoring of renal diseases, in particular renovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Discussion Renal PC-MRI shows promise as a non-invasive technique to reliably measure RBF, both in healthy volunteers and in patients with renal disease. Future multicentric studies are needed to provide definitive normative ranges and to demonstrate the clinical potential of PC-MRI, likely as part of a multi-parametric renal MRI protocol.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Versus Kidney Biopsy to Assess Response to Therapy in Nephrotic Syndrome: A Case Report

“…Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the kidney has seen great advances, now offering quantitative biomarkers with the potential to improve the management of kidney disease alongside drug development. 1 , 2 Despite several cross-sectional studies showing the correlation between MRI biomarkers, glomerular filtration rate, and pathologic lesions, 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 the potential of kidney MRI to monitor response to therapy in chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains undescribed. Membranous nephropathy is a glomerular disease that is the leading cause of nephrotic syndrome in nondiabetic White adults.…”

Color-coded summation images in the evaluation of renal artery stenosis before and after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty

“…On the other hand, phase-contrast MRI (PC-MRI) is a non-invasive imaging method visualizing blood flow velocity with no need for contrast agent application. It´s high reproducibility and correlation with other hemodynamic measurement techniques has recently been confirmed by a meta-analysis [ 24 ]. The avoidance of iodine-containing contrast agent and radiation exposure must be mentioned as an advantage of all MRI-based imaging methods.…”

Kidney Segmentation in Renal Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Current Status and Prospects

“…Therefore, to obtain a probabilistic estimate of the ground truth segmentation, some authors [24], [63] have used the simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STA-PLE) method. This method considers a collection of segmentations obtained by expert observers or an automated segmentation algorithm and computes a probabilistic estimate of the true segmentation and a measure of the performance level represented by each segmentation.…”