An Improved Method for Estimating Renal Dimensions; Implications for Management of Kidney Disease.

Chao, Kristen; Liao, Kimberly; Khan, Maheen; Shi, Christopher; Li, Jingsong; Goldberg, Itzhak D.; Narayan, Prakash

Featured Application: The study reports an improvement of the ellipse-based formula to better estimate renal dimensions and transform the management of kidney disease. More accurate determination of renal dimensions can inform progression of renal disease including scarring and polycystic kidney disease, can better match a kidney donor with a prospective recipient and guide excision of renal tumors. Changes in renal dimensions, including total kidney volume, not only inform ongoing renal disease but also disease progression. Determination of renal dimensions can inform drug efficacy, is important for matching recipients with potential donors, and to inform debulking of renal tumors. Imaging of kidney and application of the ellipse-based formula has become standard for estimating renal dimensions. Nevertheless, the existing ellipse-based formula underestimates renal dimensions including total kidney volume, regardless of the imaging modality used. Based on a model of murine kidney disease, this laboratory has previously proposed a modification to this formula which exhibits better estimation of renal dimensions. The present study sought to determine whether this modified formula is applicable to additional models of kidney disease. Kidneys were sourced from etiologically distinct murine and rat models of renal scarring. In each case, renal dimensions calculated using the existing ellipse-based formula was significantly lesser than the measured dimensions. By contrast, there was no difference between the measured dimensions and those calculated using the modified formula. In a model of polycystic kidney disease, total kidney volume calculated using the existing formula significantly underestimated measured kidney volume whereas use of the modified formula yielded a calculated kidney volume in excellent agreement with the measured volume. Use of this modified formula provides a better estimate of renal dimensions across a number of disease models.

KIDNEY diseases; BREAST cancer prognosis

Applied Sciences (2076-3417), 2019, Vol 9, Issue 15, p3198

2076-3417

Academic Journal

10.3390/app9153198