THE FUNCTIONAL STUDY OF THE TRANSPLANTATION KIDNEY WITH THE POWER DOPPLER WITH TIME/SIGNAL INTENSITY CURVES

Purpose: In this study the power Doppler with Time/signal intensity curves was used to study the functioning of the transplanted kidney both in absence of illness, and with complications (acute tubular necrosis and chronic rejection), in order to identify path gnomonic patterns. The Time/signal intensity curves allow one to obtain a representation of the phase of wash-in and wash-out of the kidney after intravenous administration of the ultrasound contrast agent. They show graphically the values of the signal and therefore of the concentration of the contrast agent present in the kidney in a given time. Methods and Materials: From March 2002 to November 2004 sixty-six patients with a kidney transplant, 39 males and 27 females, with no illness and suffering from altered creatine clearance levels, were examined with power Doppler with Time/signal intensity curves and then subjected to a bioptic test. Results: The data of the curves we obtained present significant variations according to the state of the illness and could represent. Conclusions: Such data, if confirmed in wider case histories, could open new prospects for the ultrasonographic study of the kidneys. Furthermore this new methodology represents an innovation in the field of ultrasonographic permitting a study of the functioning of the kidney.