Renal functional recovery of the hydronephrotic kidney predicted before relief of the obstruction.

Employing technetium labeled dimercaptosuccinic acid, we predicted the inulin and p-aminohippuric acid (PAH) clearances after recovery of an obstructed kidney before relief of the obstruction. Sixteen rabbits had one renal unit obstructed for varying period of time. The animals were scanned immediately before relief of the obstruction. After 4 to 6 months recovery, inulin and PAH clearances were measured in all animals. The scans were mathematically analyzed, and accurately predicted the inulin and PAH clearances obtained after complete recovery (P less than 0.001 and P less than 0.001, respectively). Six rabbits were scanned at the time of the clearance measurements. By a different mathematical analysis, inulin and PAH clearance measured concurrently correlated with the scan (P less than 0.001 and P less than 0.01 respectively).