Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Diffusion tensor can accurately detect diffusion anisotropy of water in each voxel, which can reflect changes in the ultrastructure of normal or abnormal kidney tissue and is beneficial to early diagnosis of kidney disease.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinic application of the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in kidney and kidney diseases.
METHODS: A total of 12 healthy people and 24 patients with renal lesions underwent DTI using a 3.0T MR scanning. There were 10 cases of hydronephrosis, 7 of kidney carcinoma and 7 of kidney cyst. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the cortex, medulla and in lesions were calculated and analyzed retrospectively followed by medullary fiber tractography.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In normal kidney, ADC was significantly greater in cortex than that in medulla (P=0.03), while medullary FA was significantly greater than cortical FA (P < 0.05). Kidney carcinoma patients exhibited lower cortical and medullary ADC but greater FA compared with the control group (P < 0.05). DTI can reconstruct appearance of renal medullary fiber bundles to reflect renal tubule and collecting duct changes. Results demonstrate that DTI can display the ultrastructural changes in normal and lesioned kidney and can be used for early diagnosis and disease monitor of renal lesions.