Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Transplanted Kidney: Correlation to Function and Histopathology

Interstitial fibrosis is a frequent finding in biopsies from long-term renal allografts, and may be due to chronic cyclosporine nephrotoxicity or chronic rejection. In this study, long-term renal transplants were investigated with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and the results were correlated to histopathology and graft function. Seventeen patients were investigated with MR one to 10 years after transplantation and with simultaneous ultrasonographically guided cortical needle biopsy and function tests. Histopathology included semiquantitative grading of degree of fibrosis and quantitation of ratios of tubular structures to interstitial tissue. The correlation between the histopathological assessment of interstitial fibrosis and graft function was good. Poor differentiation between the renal cortex and the renal medulla at MR imaging was correlated to high degree of interstitial fibrosis in the kidney transplants as well as to reduced graft function. MR examination may thus be of value in the evaluation of long-term renal transplants with chronic functional changes.