Are Doppler ultrasonography parameters symmetric between the right and left kidney?

Khalil Ansarin¹, Abolhassan Shakeri Bavil², Kamyar Ghabili³, Mohammadali M Shoja⁴, Hamid T Khosroshahi⁵, Babak Hajipour⁶, R Shane Tubbs⁷, Mojtaba Parvizi^8
1Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; ²Department of Radiology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; ³Students’ Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; ⁴Indiana University Department of Neurosurgery, Indianapolis, IN, USA; ⁵Department of Nephrology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; ⁶Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; ⁷Section of Pedriatric Neurosurgery, Children’s Hospital, Birmingham, AL, USA; ⁸Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Background: Among numerous modalities applied for evaluation of kidney diseases, Doppler ultrasonography (DU) provides information about the hemodynamic status of the kidneys. Meanwhile, the variability in DU parameters of the right and left kidney is a matter of controversy. The aim of this study was to determine whether any difference exists between the DU indices of the right and left kidney.
Methods: Retrospectively, we collected DU findings of 25 healthy potential renal transplant donors. All donors underwent renal DU and multidetector computed tomographic angiography before donor nephrectomy. DU indices, including peak systolic volume (PSV), resistive index (RI), pulsatility index (PI), end-diastolic volume (EDV), and acceleration time (AT), were recorded.
Results: The median age of the donors was 27 (range 23–39) years. The median PSV, RI, EDV, and AT for the right kidney were 29 cm/sec, 0.59, 10.9 cm/sec, and 50 msec, respectively. For the left kidney, the median PSV, RI, EDV, and AT were, respectively, 26.8 cm/sec, 0.60, 10.6 cm/sec, and 43 msec. Among the DU indices, median PI of the right kidney was significantly different from that of the left kidney (1.02 versus 0.95, P = 0.01).
Conclusion: In conclusion, the present study revealed that right kidney DU indices, except for PI, may not differ from those of the left kidney.

Keywords: Doppler ultrasonography, peak systolic volume, resistive index, pulsatility index, kidney