3T magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging in chronic kidney disease

To investigate the relationship of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values with renal function on 3T diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in chronic kidney disease. Twenty healthy volunteers and 29 patients with CKD underwent DTI. The relationship among ADC, FA, and renal function was analyzed. Cortical and medullary ADC and FA values of patients with chronic kidney disease were lower than those of healthy volunteers (P = 0.000). Both the renal ADC and FA values correlated inversely with serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (P < 0.05). DTI is a feasible and non-invasive means to reflect the severity of renal function damaged.