Color Doppler sonographic determination of renal blood flow in healthy children.

The volumetric measurement of the real renal perfusion is of interest in many clinical situations. It promises better understanding of renal function and development in healthy children and in children with acute or chronic renal failure, inflammation of any type, scarring, swelling, trauma, operations, and other conditions. Until now only scintigraphic techniques allowed measurement of the renal plasma flow in clinical practice. With color Doppler sonography all relevant data to calculate the volume of blood that passes through the kidney in a certain time can be measured. The aim of this paper is to investigate the utility of color Doppler sonography in describing renal perfusion in 63 healthy children in four separate age groups. It can be shown that the perfusion volume related to the body surface area is constant throughout childhood. Its mean value is 383 ml/min x m2. The results of the new technique of color Doppler sonographic volumetric determination of renal blood flow are then compared in 21 pediatric patients with the results of scintigraphic determination of the renal perfusion by 123I-hippurate clearance. This way a significant correlation of both methods can be demonstrated.