Ultrasonic evaluation of renal cortex arterial area enables differentiation between hypertensive and glomerulonephritis-related chronic kidney disease

PURPOSE: Identifying the primary etiology of cardio-renal syndrome in a timely manner remains an ongoing challenge in nephrology. We hypothesized that hypertensive kidney damage can be distinguished from chronic glomerulonephritis at an early stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD) using ultrasound (US) Doppler sonography. METHODS: Fifty-six males (age 54 ± 15, BMI 28.3 ± 3.5 kg/m(2)) with hypertension and stable CKD at stages 2–4 [38 with essential hypertension (HT-CKD); 18 with glomerulonephritis (GN-CKD)] were studied. Blood tests, UACR, echocardiography, ABPM, carotid IMT, and an ultrasound dynamic tissue perfusion measurement (DTPM) of the renal cortex were performed. RESULTS: HT-CKD patients had reduced proximal renal cortex perfusion as well as reduced total and proximal renal cortex arterial area. Proximal renal cortex arterial area ≤0.149 cm(2) identified hypertension-related CKD with a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 78% (AUC 0.753, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Evidence of diminished arterial vascularity or perfusion of renal proximal cortex, both derived from US Doppler, could be helpful in differentiating hypertensive nephropathy from glomerulonephritis-related CKD.