Peter Vermathen1, Tobias Binser1,
Chris Boesch1, Ute Eisenberger2, Harriet C. Thoeny3
1Dept. Clinical Research, University
Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 2Dept. of of Nephrology and Hypertension,
University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 3Dept. of
Radiology, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Previously,
we performed a DWI and BOLD MRI study in renal allograft recipients with good
allograft function and determined short term reproducibility of diffusion and
oxygenation parameters. In the current study, nine patients of our initial
study were measured again 322 months after the initial scan to assess long
term effects on diffusion parameters and on R2*. The functional parameters
were markedly stable after 32 months with a slight tendency towards reduced
oxygenation in eight of the nine patients, who still had good allograft
function. In contrast, one subject with decreased GFR indicative of renal
dysfunction demonstrated strongly altered MR-parameters.