EXPERIENCE WITH 110 DETERMINATIONS OF RENAL BLOOD FLOW (RBF) IN CHILDREN USING 133XE

Renal blood flow has been measured in children of age 1½ to 16 years, by injecting 133Xe into the renal artery at the time of aortography or surgery. The rate of washout of radioactivity was monitored on magnetic tape and the resultant data analyzed by graphic analysis using a semi-automatic method of plotting and computing the rates and fraction of blood flow perfusing the outer and inner cortical regions of the kidney. The number, type, and results of the studies follows: 1) In 8 normal kidneys, RBF's were similar to adult values. 2) In 53 studies of RBF in children with congenital heart disease, RBF's were reduced in both cyanotic and acyanotic heart disease, were further reduced when heart failure was present (8 patients) and fell after angiography (19 patients). 3) Following renal biopsy drops in RBF may occur in intact kidneys, but not in the transplanted kidney (4 patients). 4)In chronic renal disease outer cortical blood flow is diminished. 5) 31 measurements of RBF in donor kidneys upon insertion and/or following transplantation suggest that this technique may have some value in predicting both the immediate and subsequent function of the graft. 6)In 5 patients with renal vascular hypertension, 133Xe measurements of RBF were helpful in determining secretory rates of renin in both kidneys. Supported NIH grants RR-75, RR-5624 and HE-12651.