Contrast-enhanced ultrasound predicts the long-term prognosis of chronic kidney disease patients / 中华肾脏病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the ability of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) as a prognostic indicator of renal function in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.Methods A total of 122 patients with CKD were collected,and patients with allergies to sulfur hexafluoride,pregnancy,cardiopulmonary insufficiency,urinary calculus and tumour were excluded.These patients were divided into estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR,ml·min1· (1.73 m2)-1] ≥60 group,eGFR 30-59 group and eGFR ＜ 30 group.CEUS was performed after an intravenous bolus injection of 1.5 ml SonoVue (BR1;Bracco Milan,Italy).Time-intensity curves (TICs) and quantitative indexes were created using QLAB quantification software.Followed up for 2 years,and patients with eGFR dropped 50％,double serum creatinine and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) were regarded as having kidney failure events.Risk factors related to kidney survival were investigated using a multivariate Cox regression model.Results One hundred patients were enrolled in the study,with 78％ patients in CKD 1-2 stages,16％ in CKD 3 stage and 6％ in CKD 4-5 stages.Patients were followed for a mean period of 14.1 months,ten (10％) patients exhibited composite kidney failure events.Among 3 groups,significant differences in the left kidney length derived peak intensity (DPI) were noted (P=0.014,P=0.010).Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the DPI was an independent factor of progression of kidney disease.Multiple linear regression showed that age,basic eGFR,peak intensity were associated with eGFR decline rate.Patients with DPI ＜ 12.27 db were less to recover from kidney disease progression as compared with patients with DPI≥ 12.27 db (P=0.008).The area under the curve (AUC) for DPI was 0.778(95％ CI 0.612-0.944,P＜ 0.05),with a sensitivity of 64％ and a specificity of 88％.Conclusions The DPI might be the most valuable CEUS parameter for the evaluation of renal function.The DPI could serve as an independent predictor of the long-term prognosis of CKD patients.