Diffusion tensor imaging of renal ischemia/reperfusion injury

Abstract

Renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major cause of acute renal failure in native and in transplanted kidneys. IRI in kidney associated with transplantation may also influence early graft function and late changes. Recently, anisotropy measurement with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been found to provide additional information about functional and structural status of kidney. In this study, we aim at characterizing diffusion properties of kidney with mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in an experimental rat model of renal IRI. The experimental results demonstrated that DTI is useful in identifying renal IRI by characterizing the changes in MD and FA.