Application value of real-time shear wave elastography for quantitative evaluation of chronic kidney disease in pediatric patients.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) in quantitative evaluation of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in pediatric patients.

Methods: SWE was conducted on 58 pediatric patients with CKD (CKD group) and 70 healthy volunteers (Control group). Computer-assisted quantitative analysis was utilized to determine the percentage of interstitial fibrosis (IF) in images from the CKD group, categorizing them into mild, moderate, and severe groups according to IF% values. The differences in Young's modulus (YM) and estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) between the renal cortex and medulla in these groups were compared. Additionally, the relationships between YM and IF% as well as YM and eGFR, were analyzed.

Results: The YM values in right lower pole cortex and medulla of the CKD group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P < 0.05). Significant differences were observed in eGFR among mild, moderate, and severe CKD patients (F = 40.882). YM demonstrated a correlation with eGFR in both the renal cortex and medulla (r = -0.329, P = 0.012; r = 0.417, P = 0.001). YM values increased with the severity of renal interstitial fibrosis in a pronounced trend across groups (F = 109.962, F = 72.950, all P < 0.001). Additionally, YM correlated with IF% in both the renal cortex and medulla (r = 0.362, P = 0.006; r = 0.483, P < 0.001). The optimal cut-off value of renal cortex YM for distinguishing between CKD and control group was 4.05 kPa.

Conclusion: SWE enables quantitative assessment of kidney YM values, revealing significantly higher values in children with CKD compared to healthy individuals. YM is correlated with the severity of renal interstitial fibrosis, thereby establishing SWE as a valuable non-invasive tool for quantitative evaluation of pediatric CKD.