Objective: To use CT to identify renal damage in patients with liver cirrhosis.
Methods: Sixty patients with liver cirrhosis confirmed by clinical, laboratory and imaging examinations and 20 patients without liver and kidney diseases (control group) were recruited in this study. The participants underwent double-stage enhanced scanning. The thickness of renal cortex (C) and parenchyma (P), and enhancement of renal cortex and medulla on cortical phase were measured. The association between renal damage and Child-Pugh grades, ascites capacities, liver cirrhosis types, opened portal collateral vessels, and opened collateral vessels between splenic venous and renal venous in the patients with liver cirrhosis were analysed.
Results: The patients with liver cirrhosis had lower C/P and enhancement of cortex on cortical phase and greater enhancement of medulla than the controls (P < 0.05). The enhancement of cortex decreased with the increase of Child-Pugh grade, opened portal collateral vessels and opened collateral vessels between splenic venous and renal venous (P < 0.05), but the differences of enhancement of medulla and C/P had no statistical significance (P > 0.05). No differences in the measured indicators were found between patients with different capacities of ascites and patients with different types of liver cirrhosis (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: The CT findings on renal damage in patients with liver cirrhosis include decrease in C/P and enhancement of cortex on cortical phase, and increase in enhancement of medulla on cortical phase. The enhancement of cortex on cortical phase is the most important change, which is associated with Child-Pugh grades, opened portal collateral vessels and opened collateral vessels between splenic venous and renal venous.