VARIABILITY OF DOPPLER PARAMETERS IN THE HEALTHY KIDNEY - AN ANATOMIC-PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATION

Contradictory results have been obtained in classifying various renal diseases when trying to use the resistive index measured by duplex Dop pler technique in renoparenchymal arteries. These measurements may hav e been influenced by the lack of standardization of the anatomic site at which the renoparenchymal artery is sampled. To elucidate this infl uence, we measured the resistive index, peak systolic velocity, end di astolic velocity, and pulsatility index in 120 healthy kidneys at thre e different positions of the renal vasculature. The resistive index at the level of the interlobar-arcuate arteries proved to be the paramet er with the most consistent results and should be preferred in clinica l applications.