Search

Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can lead to systemic inflammatory responses and other cardiovascular disease. Diffusion tensor imaging findings generated by gadolinium-based MRI (DTI-GBMRI) is regarded as a standard method for assessing the pathology of CKD. To evaluate the diagnostic value of DTI-MRI for renal histopathology and renal efficiency, renal fibrosis and damage, noninvasive quantification of renal blood flow (RBF) were investigated in patients with CKD.Methods CKD patients (n = 186) were recruited and underwent diagnosis of renal DTI-GBMRI or DTI-MRI to identify the pathological characteristics and depict renal efficiency. The cortical RBFs and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were compared in CKD patients undergone DTI-GBMRI (n=92) or DTI-MRI (n=94). Results Results showed that gadolinium enhanced the diagnosis generated by DTI-MRI in renal fibrosis, renal damage and eGFR. The superiority in sensitivity and accuracy of DTI-GBMRI method in assessing renal function and evaluating renal impairment was observed in CKD patients compared with DTI-MRI. Outcomes demonstrated that DTI-GBMRI had higher accuracy, sensitivity and specificity than DTI-MRI in diagnosing patients with CKD. Conclusions In conclusion, these outcomes indicate that DTI-GBMRI is a potential noninvasive method for measuring renal function, which can provide valuable information for clinical CKD diagnosis (Trial registration number: ChiCTR-IPR-16010073, 02/12/2016, registered status).