Renal morphometric and doppler studies in different stages of canine chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Doppler ultrasound is a useful diagnostic tool to evaluate renal blood flow in canine chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to describe and compare renal blood flow in different stages of CKD dogs based on the ultrasonographic appearance of kidneys. The study included one hundred and three dogs with CKD confirmed clinically, hematologically, biochemically and ultrasonographically. Ten healthy dogs with no haematological and ultrasonographic abnormalities of kidneys were also included in the study as a control group. Based on SDMA levels, the dogs with CKD were divided into four groups viz., Stage I (n=17), Stage II ( n=15), Stage III ( n=25) and Stage IV ( n=46). The Renal volume was measured with two-dimensional ultrasonography. All the dogs were subjected to pulsed-wave Doppler to obtain hemodynamic parameters such as resistance index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) which were significantly (P<0.05) higher in CKD stage III and IV dogs than in control. However, no significant difference was reported in RI and PI values in dogs with CKD Stages I and II (P>0.05). Hemodynamic parameters appear useful markers for understanding the pathological process and progression in dogs with CKD.