Early systole in the healthy kidney: variability of Doppler US waveform parameters.

PURPOSE

To determine the sampling variability of intrarenal Doppler ultrasound (US) indexes of early systole in a screened population of healthy individuals.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Doppler US measurements were obtained in the superior, middle, and inferior regions of 132 kidneys in 66 healthy, potential kidney donors. All individuals subsequently underwent angiography. Systematic measurement differences and random effects were estimated for sampling from a particular parenchymal region, from a kidney in a subject, from an individual in a population, and from a vascular territory.

RESULTS

Coefficients of variations ranged from 20% to 30%. Most (55%-66%) of the observed variation was attributable to random differences between repeated measurements in the same kidney. No systematic variations attributable to kidney region, vascular territory, right versus left kidney, or subject age were found for acceleration time, acceleration, or waveform shape. Some evidence of fixed variation between kidneys and between regions was found for peak systolic velocity, but the magnitude of this variation was small. Averages of repeated measurements may decrease the probability of exceeding the normal threshold for acceleration but not for acceleration time.

CONCLUSION

Measurements of Doppler parameters of the early systole have substantial intrinsic variability. Thus, caution is needed when interpreting small changes in these measurements within a kidney or between individuals.