Renal Doppler color ultrasonography in the study of diabetic nephropathy

: The traditional ultrasound approach in the field of diabetic nephropathy provides only partial clinical information; moreover, the data obtained are merely descriptive, in particular regarding the involvement of the intrarenal arteries, which is however the area mainly involved. The aim of our study was to assess the data provided by Doppler ultrasound and in particular the role of the Resistive Index (RI) in a population of 160 type 2 diabetics (NIDDM), divided into 4 groups according to the severity of diabetic nephropathy. The assessment of RI has enabled us to detect among patients in the early stages of diabetic nephropathy (64 patients of group 1), a subgroup of 28 subjects (43.8%) showing RI values equal to or above the threshold value of 0.7. The determination of renal size and of renal parenchyma echogenicity proved to be of little value. The most relevant clinical information is provided by the RI, a parameter that will allow the early detection of patients affected by NIDDM, who show renal vascular involvement without however any other alterations of the traditional ultrasound parameters.