ASSESSMENT OF THE RENAL VASCULATURE WITH AMPLITUDE-CODED DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY

Purpose: To evaluate the benefit of ''Colour Doppler Energy'' (CDE) or ,,Power Doppler'' applications in healthy kidneys and in renal diseas e including paediatric assessment. Patients and Method: Ten healthy vo lunteers (range: neonate to adults) were studied using conventional co lour Doppler sonography (CDS) and CDE in order to evaluate the visibil ity of intrarenal vasculature. In addition, ten children and ten adult s with known renal disease were evaluated. The findings were compared to clinical, scintigraphic and biopsy results. Results: CDE showed far better visualisation of intrarenal vasculature than CDS. CDE demonstr ated focal and diffuse reduced cortical perfusion with an overall accu racy of 95% and a sensitivity of 88%. In 7 healthy volunteers cortical vasculature was visualised throughout the kidney. In 3 infants incomp lete visualisation was obtained because of motion artifacts. In the di seased kidneys, CDE findings correlated well with clinical findings, s cintigraphy results and biopsy findings. Conclusion: CDE can be succes sfully applied to adults and infants demonstrating renal vasculature i n healthy kidneys and in kidneys with focally or diffusely altered per fusion.