DCE MR Renography Measurement of Renal Function in Patients Undergoing Partial Nephrectomy

Stella K. Kang¹, William C. Huang², Jeff L. Zhang¹, Michael Stifelman², Mary Bruno¹, Konstantinos Arhakis¹, Edgar F. Suan¹, Vivian S. Lee¹, Hersh Chandarana¹

Partial nephrectomy is commonly performed for treatment of localized renal tumors. Surgical approaches vary in the type and duration of ischemic insult. MR-renography may be used to monitor the impact of surgical approaches on the operated kidney and to assess the compensatory changes in the contralateral kidney while adding 5 minutes acquisition time and minimal gadolinium contrast. Our preliminary study demonstrated decrease in operated kidney function in the immediate post-operative period, which was greatest in patients with warm ischemia time ≥ 40 minutes and lowest in patients with cold ischemia. Few patients demonstrated persistent decline in renal function at follow-up.