[Echo-Doppler in chronic kidney transplant rejection. The diagnostic prospects using indices of the ascending systolic phase].

To date, Doppler US has been rarely used to diagnose chronic renal transplant rejection because of its low sensitivity. Nevertheless, all the results have been obtained from the analysis of flow-metric indices, mainly considering the diastolic phase of the Doppler waveform, e.g., the resistance index (RI) and the pulsatility index (PI). This study was aimed at investigating if Doppler diagnostic accuracy in renal transplant monitoring can be increased by studying the systolic phase, considering peak arterial systolic velocity (Vp), acceleration time (AT) and acceleration index (AI). Seventy-six renal transplant recipients were examined with color-Doppler and duplex Doppler US, which showed 47 well-functioning and 29 hypofunctioning kidneys. The diagnosis was confirmed with perfusion scintigraphy with 99mTc DTPA, biopsy and 6-month clinical-laboratory follow-up. The means of Vp, AI, AT and RI relative to the group of patients with normal renal function were compared with those in the group of patients with chronic rejection. Critical values were measured at the segmental arteries (Vp = 70 cm/s, AI = 7 m/s2, AT = 100 ms), at the interlobar arteries (Vp = 45 cm/s, AI = 4 m/s2, AT = 100 ms) and at the arcuate arteries (Vp = 35 cm/s, AI = 3 m/s2, AT = 100 ms). On the basis of these values, normal functioning transplants were differentiated from hypofunctioning ones. RIs were altered (> 0.75) in 8 of 17 chronic rejections and in 3 of 47 normal transplants, with 47.1% sensitivity and 93.6% specificity. The combination of RI with Vp and AI strongly increased both sensitivity (100%) and specificity (82.98%). Combined AI and RI exhibited 94.1% sensitivity and 89.3% specificity. In conclusion, the indices of the ascending systolic phase, in peripheral vascular samplings, are clearly more efficacious than RI alone and index combination exhibits the highest diagnostic accuracy.