EVALUATION AND VALIDATION OF URETERIC JET INDEX BY GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE

NAN-TSING CHIU, MD, MSC,* CHUNG-CHIENG WU, MD,t WEI4EN YAO, MD, * DOM-GENE TU, MD.* BI-FANG LEE, MD, MSc,┿ YAT-CHING TONG, MD,§AND CHENG-CHIN PAN, MD§ Chiu N-T, Wu C-C, Yao W-J, et al. Evaluation and v~lidation of ureteric jet index by glomerular filtration rate. Invest Radiol 1999;34:499-502. RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. Ureteric jet index (UJI), a newly developed technique derived from color Doppler ultrasonography, may hold promise in evaluating renal function because of its ability to evaluate individual renal function and the use of nonionizing radiation. To assess the usefulness of UJI, the authors in this study analyzed the relation between UJI and the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). NIETHODS. Fifteen adult patients with a wide range of renal function were included in this study. Subjects were well hydrated before color Doppler ultrasonography examinations. The UJI formula was: Vmean (average jet velocity) x D Uet duration) x F ('et frequency). GFR was calculated by the radionuclide method. Correlations between UJI, serum creatmine, and GFR were analyzed. RESULTS. Ureteric jet index had only a fair correlation with GFR. The-coefficient of correlation value was 0.61, and the standard error of estimate of GFR was 17.9 ml/min. CONCLUSIONS. With the measurement of UJI, color Doppler ultrasound can provide both structural images and individual renal function information. It could substitute for a renal scan in determining individual renal function when a radionuclide examination is unavailable. Even if a renal scan were available, UJI can play a valuable role in the ultrasound examination of patients with suspected impaired renal function, providing further assessment of individual renal function.