Possibilities for the co-use of high-frequency skin ultrasound and contrast-enhanced renal ultrasound in the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease

In Russia, decreased kidney function was diagnosed in 16% of able-bodied people and in 36% of people over 60 years of age. It is necessary to develop additional algorithms for diagnosing this disease for its early detection at the stage of screening, monitoring the development of pathology, and preventing complications. Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of co-use of high-frequency skin ultrasound and contrast-enhanced renal ultrasound in the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Subjects and methods. The investigation enrolled 34 patients with a documented CKD diagnosis. The patients were divided into groups according to the glomerular filtration rate (GFR): Group 1 consisted of 17 patients with normal or slightly reduced GFR (>60 ml/min/1.73m2); Group 2 included 17 patients with significantly reduced GFR (30–44 ml/min/1.73 m2). The patients were examined according to the unified diagnostic algorithm: B-mode multiparametric renal ultrasound, contrast-enhanced renal ultrasound with the co-application of high-frequency skin ultrasound. Results. The proposed method for determining the severity of CKD, by assessing peripheral microcirculatory abnormalities using contrast-enhanced renal ultrasound and high-frequency skin ultrasound before and during intravenous contrast enhancement, by determining the difference between the values of ratio of acoustic scan lines, showed a high sensitivity (89.5%) and specificity (90.6%). Conclusion. The co-use of high-frequency skin ultrasound and contrast-enhanced renal ultrasound is effective in detecting and monitoring CKD.