Blood Velocity Profiles in the Human Renal Artery by Doppler Ultrasound and Their Relationship to Atherosclerosis

To optimize study design and data interpretation, there is a need to understand the reliability of Doppler ultrasound-derived measures of blood velocity (BV) measured in the renal and segmental arteries. Thus, this study tested the following two hypotheses: 1) renal and segmental artery BV measured over the current standard of three cardiac cycles have good agreement with measurements over nine cardiac cycles ( study 1); and 2) renal and segmental artery BV measurements have relatively poor day-to-day reliability ( study 2). In study 1, there was excellent agreement between measurements over three and nine cardiac cycles for BV in both the renal and segmental arteries, as evidenced by BV measurements that were not statistically different ( P ≥ 0.68), were highly consistent ( r ≥ 0.99, P < 0.01), had a coefficient of variation ≤2.5 ± 1.8%, and 97% (renal artery) and 92% (segmental artery) of the individual differences fell within the 95% limits of agreement. In study 2, there was relatively good day-to-day reliability in renal artery BV as evidenced by no differences between three separate days ( P ≥ 0.30), an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.92 (0.78, 0.98), and 7.4 ± 5.5% coefficient of variation. The day-to-day reliability was relatively poor in the segmental artery with an ICC of 0.77 (0.41, 0.93) and 9.0 ± 5.6% coefficient of variation. These findings support measuring renal and segmental artery hemodynamics over three cardiac cycles and the utility in reporting renal BV across days. However, because of the variation across days, hemodynamic responses in the segmental arteries should be reported as changes from baseline when making comparisons across multiple days. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The present study indicates that Doppler ultrasound-derived measures of renal and segmental artery hemodynamics over three cardiac cycles have excellent agreement with those over nine cardiac cycles. These findings support the current practice of measuring renal and segmental artery blood velocity over three cardiac cycles. This study also demonstrates that there is excellent day-to-day reliability for measures of renal artery blood velocity, which supports reporting absolute values of renal artery blood velocity across days. However, it was also found that the day-to-day reliability of segmental artery measurements is relatively poor. Thus, to account for this variability, we suggest that segmental artery hemodynamics be compared as relative changes from baseline across separate days.

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Blood velocity profiles in the origin of the canine renal artery and their relevance in the localization and development of atherosclerosis.

Arteriosclerosis and Thrombosis A Journal of Vascular Biology ◽

10.1161/01.atv.12.5.626 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 626-632 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

T Yamamoto ◽

H Tanaka ◽

C J Jones ◽

M J Lever ◽

K H Parker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Renal Artery ◽

Velocity Profiles ◽

Blood Velocity

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Colour Doppler ultrasound in renal artery stenosis: intrarenal waveform analysis

British Journal of Radiology ◽

10.1259/0007-1285-69-825-810 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 69 (825) ◽

pp. 810-815 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

G M Baxter ◽

F Aitchison ◽

D Sheppard ◽

J G Moss ◽

M J McLeod ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Renal Artery ◽

Renal Artery Stenosis ◽

Doppler Ultrasound ◽

Artery Stenosis ◽

Waveform Analysis ◽

Colour Doppler ◽

Colour Doppler Ultrasound

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Utility of color doppler ultrasound in the evaluation of renal artery stenosis in comparison with contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography

Saudi Journal of Kidney Diseases and Transplantation ◽

10.4103/1319-2442.128518 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 309 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

ElnasriM Abuagla ◽

TanSook Pei

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Magnetic Resonance Angiography ◽

Renal Artery ◽

Renal Artery Stenosis ◽

Doppler Ultrasound ◽

Color Doppler ◽

Color Doppler Ultrasound ◽

Artery Stenosis ◽

Contrast Enhanced

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Cardiovascular complications according to severity of renal artery stenosis based on Doppler ultrasound

Archives of Medical Science ◽

10.5114/aoms/132002 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Łukasz Artyszuk ◽

Bartosz Symonides ◽

Zbigniew Gaciong ◽

Cezary Szmigielski

Keyword(s):

Cardiovascular Risk ◽

Renal Artery ◽

Renal Artery Stenosis ◽

Doppler Ultrasound ◽

Cardiovascular Events ◽

Cardiovascular Complications ◽

Artery Stenosis ◽

Control Group ◽

Percutaneous Coronary Angioplasty ◽

Increased Risk

IntroductionThe interactions between atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis, independently of severity, and cardiovascular risk, and mortality, are complex and have not been fully researched. The aim of this study was the assessment of the risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with haemodynamically non-significant (NS-RAS) and significant renal artery stenosis (S-RAS) diagnosed with ultrasonography.Material and methodsThe study group consisted of all consecutive patients (n = 2059) who underwent Doppler ultrasound of the renal arteries during a 4-year period. The patients were divided, according to the renal aortic ratio (RAR), into the following groups: S-RAS (RAR ≥ 3.5), NS-RAS (1 < RAR < 3.5), and normal RAR (control group; RAR ≤ 1). The risk of cardiovascular events and death was estimated using Cox’s proportional hazard model, including severity of RAS, age, and gender, based on the data from the National Health Fund on causes of hospitalization, deaths, and statistics on percutaneous coronary angioplasty procedures.ResultsSignificant renal artery stenosis was found in 112 patients (5.4%), NS-RAS in 313 patients (15.2%), and 1634 patients (79.4%) were qualified to the control group. The NS-RAS group had an increased risk of stroke (7.0% vs. 3.0%, HR = 1.77, p = 0.032); S-RAS patients were at increased risk of heart failure (16.1% vs. 5.2%, HR = 2.19, p = 0.002) and death (19.6% vs. 4.3%, HR = 3.08, p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe presence of haemodynamically non-significant renal artery stenosis is an indicator of systemic atherosclerotic changes in vital organs and an important cardiovascular risk factor for stroke.

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