| BACKGROUND:
The intrarenal resistive index (RI) is a promising tool for predicting renal graft outcomes. Due to the complexity of graft function and the presence of diverse contributing factors, however, the available data are inconclusive.
PURPOSE:
To examine the performance of the RI 1 week after transplant in predicting allograft function at week 12, with an emphasis on the type of intrarenal artery used in the examination.
MATERIAL AND METHODS:
A total of 58 first-time living-donor kidney-allograft-transplantation patients aged less than 50 years underwent Doppler ultrasonography (US) of the intrarenal arteries 1 week after engraftment. The RI was calculated for both the segmental (RI-C) and interlobar-arcuate (RI-P) arteries. Serum creatinine level and the creatinine reduction ratio (CRR) were determined at weeks 1 and 12 post transplantation.
RESULTS:
While the RI did not correlate with serum creatinine level and CRR at week 1, significant correlations were present between the RI and serum creatinine level (r = 0.28, P = 0.03 for both RI-C and RI-P) and CRR (r = -0.25, P = 0.05 for both RI-C and RI-P) at week 12. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of using RI-C in predicting abnormal 12-week serum creatinine level were 51.2%, 52.9%, 72.4%, and 31.3%, respectively; and 53.7%, 47.1%, 70.9%, and 29.6% for RI-P, respectively (P > 0.99 for all comparisons).
CONCLUSION:
Early post-transplantation RI correlates significantly with both serum creatinine level and creatinine reduction ratio 12 weeks after engraftment with intermediate predictive accuracy. |