Objective: To investigate the relationship of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values with renal function on 3T diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in chronic kidney disease.
Materials and methods: Twenty healthy volunteers and 29 patients with CKD underwent DTI. The relationship among ADC, FA, and renal function was analyzed.
Results: Cortical and medullary ADC and FA values of patients with chronic kidney disease were lower than those of healthy volunteers (P = 0.000). Both the renal ADC and FA values correlated inversely with serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: DTI is a feasible and non-invasive means to reflect the severity of renal function damaged.