Renal doppler assessment in differentiating obstructive from non-obstructive hydronephrosis in children.

background: to determine the usefulness of Doppler ultrasound measurement of resistive index (RI) in differentiating obstructive from non-obstructive hy dronephrosis in children. Methods: From August 2011 to November 2012, renal Doppler assessments of the intra-renal renal arteries w ere performed on 16 children (19 kidney s) w ith congenital hy dronephrosis. the independent t-test w as used to assess for significant difference in RI values betw een those w ith obstructive hy dronephrosis (6 kidney s) and those w ith non-obstructive hy dronephrosis (13 kidney s) as determined by dy namic renal scintigraphy . the assessor w as blinded to the clinical findings and scintigraphy results. Results: RI w as significantly different betw een obstructive and non-obstructive hy dronephrosis. Obstructive hy dronephrosis returned higher RI values, w ith mean RI of 0.78. Mean RI in non-obstructive hy dronephrosis w as 0.70, and the difference w as significant (p <0.05). the sensitivity and specificity of Doppler ultrasound w ere 100% and 53% respectively . conclusion: Doppler ultrasound measurement of resistive index is useful in differentiating obstructive from nonobstructive hy dronephrosis and provides an alternative non-ioniz ing investigation other than dy namic renal scintigraphy .