Renal resistive index as a marker of histopathological damage in diabetic and non-diabetic chronic kidney disease

Abstract Background Chronic kidney disease is a worldwide public health problem with diabetes being the leading cause. Renal resistive index derived by Duplex Doppler sonography, has been in use clinically to examine intrarenal hemodynamic abnormalities. However, renal biopsy remains the gold standard for the evaluation of intrarenal damage. In this study we correlated the renal resistive index in diabetic and non-diabetic kidney disease patients with the established parameters of renal dysfunction i.e. histopathological changes. Results The conducted study was a cross-sectional comparative study on 114 patients (58 diabetic and 56 non-diabetic patients) over a period of 18 months. Evaluated histopathological indices and renal resistive index had a statistically significant positive correlation (glomerulosclerosis, arterial damage and tubulo-interstitial damage scores) in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients. The highest correlation was observed with tubulo-interstitial score in our study. Conclusions Renal resistive index could be considered a marker of histological damage in both diabetic and non-diabetic kidney disease. Inclusion of resistive index in the routine diagnostic protocol of chronic kidney disease can help in the accurate assessment of intrarenal damage. Hence, it is of utmost importance as a radiologist to determine resistive index in chronic kidney disease patients and guide the clinicians for efficient management.