Akihiko Kanki1,
Katsuyoshi Ito1, Tsutomu Tamada1, Yasufumi Noda1,
Atsushi Higaki1, Tomohiro Sato1, Kazuya Yasokawa1,
Akira Yamamoto1
1Radiology,
Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan
The aim of this study was to compare the renal cortical thicknesses between cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients with normal renal functions based on serum creatinine by using noncontrast-enhanced SSFP MR imaging with spatially selective IR pulse. The serum creatinine levels and eGFRs did not significantly differ between the cirrhotic and noncirrhotic groups. Conversely, the mean renal cortical thickness and renal cortical width ratio of the cirrhotic group were significantly lower than those for the noncirrhotic group. This suggests that these measurements by noncontrast-enhanced SSFP MR imaging with spatially selective IR pulse would help evaluate renal function in cirrhotic patients.