Application value of quantitative parameters for contrast-enhanced ultrasound in evaluation of various chronic kidney diseases stages and their correlation with clinical indicators

Objective To explore application value of quantitative parameters for contrast-enhanced ultrasonic imaging in evaluation of the blood flow perfusion in the renal cortex at various stagesof chronic kidney diseases(CKD), and to investigate their correlation with clinical indicators. Methods A total of 80 patients with CKD in our hospital were enrolled and divided into 4 groups (CKD stage 1,2,3,4~5) with 20 patients in each group,and 20 healthy adults were selected as control group.All subjects underwent contrast-enhance ultrasound of the double kidneys, and the parameters of renal blood flow perfusion includingarrival time (AT), time of to peak, absolute enhance intensity (AI) and area under curve (AUC) were obtained, by selecting regions of interest for establishing the time-intensity curve (TIC). The differences of quantitative parameters for contrast-enhance ultrasoundin different groups were compared and their correlations with clinical indicators were analyzed. Results The contrast-enhance ultrasound showed, the AUC in the control group was much higher than those in the CKD groups, with difference of statistical significance(P<0.05). With increase of the CKD stages, AUCs for the double kidneys decreased with difference of statistical significance (P<0.05). No significant difference was observed in arrive time(AT) and time to peak(TTP) among the 5 groups(P>0.05).The AI values for the double kidneys exhibited a negative correlation with serum creatinine(Scr) and,uric acid(UA)(P<0.05). The AUC values for the double kidneys had a positive correlation with hemoglobin (P<0.05). Other parameters had no significant correlation with clinical indicators (P>0.05). Conclusions Contrast-enhance ultrasoundcan be used to quantify parameters for blood perfusion in the micro-circulation in the renal cortex, and can evaluate kidney functions of CKD patients accurately, sensitively and effectively. The quantitative parameters for contrast-enhance ultrasound can also reflect severity of damage of kidney functions at various stages of CKD, so as to provide objective indicators for early diagnosis and treatment of CKD.