Towards the identification of multi-parametric quantitative MRI biomarkers in lupus nephritis.

Purpose: To identify potential biomarkers of the renal impairment in lupus nephritis using a multi-parametric renal quantitative MRI (qMRI) protocol including diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD), arterial spin labeling (ASL) and T1rho MRI between a cohort of healthy volunteers and lupus nephritis (LN) patients.

Materials And Methods: The renal qMRI protocol was performed twice with repositioning in between on 10 LN patients and 10 matched controls at 1.5 T.