TSI ultrasound elastography for the diagnosis of chronic allograft nephropathy in kidney transplanted patients.

Purpose: To answer the question whether the TSI (tissue strain imaging) sonoelastography technique can contribute to the diagnosis of chronic renal allograft damage.

Material And Methods: A prospective study of 112 patients between June 2010 and April 2011 was conducted to compare elastography data with biopsy results and laboratory parameters in order to determine whether any correlations exist. Elastography parameters were acquired with a high-end ultrasound system and analyzed using the semiquantitative strain ratio.

Improved diagnosis of early kidney allograft dysfunction by ultrasound with echo enhancer--a new method for the diagnosis of renal perfusion.

Background: Conventional ultrasound parameters such as the resistance index (RI) are only of limited use in the diagnosis of early allograft dysfunction. We, therefore, performed a prospective study to compare the value of ultrasound contrast media (USCM) with conventional US in the diagnosis of early allograft dysfunction.

Methods: A total of 48 consecutive kidney recipients underwent US examination after USCM administration 4-10 days after transplantation.