Factors that influence kidney shear wave speed assessed by acoustic radiation force impulse elastography in patients without kidney pathology.

Our aim was to assess kidney shear wave speed by means of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography in patients without kidney pathology ("normal" patients) and to identify the factors that influence it. We analyzed 91 "normal" patients in whom kidney shear wave speed was assessed by means of ARFI elastography. Five valid ARFI elastographic measurements were obtained in all "normal" patients in both kidneys. In univariate analysis, age (r = -0.370, p = 0.003), gender (female vs. male, r = -0.305, p = 0.003) and measurement depth (r = -0.285, p = 0.01) were significantly correlated with kidney shear wave speed values assessed by ARFI elastography, whereas body mass index, kidney length and renal parenchyma thickness were not correlated. In multivariate analysis, only age (p = 0.006) and gender (p = 0.03) were significantly correlated with kidney shear wave speed values. In conclusion, kidney shear wave speed values assessed by ARFI elastography in "normal" patients are influenced mainly by age and gender and less by measurement depth.