ROLE OF RENAL DOPPLER IN EARLY DETECTION OF DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY

The RI (Resistive Index) changes in renal inter lobar segmental arteries were studied in fifty diabetic patients and other 35 random cases. 98% of documented cases of diabetic nephropathy showed raised RI values, more than 0.7. The RI value of one diabetic nephropathy case (2% of cases) was only 0.68. Another one case showed raised RI values, even when the urine microalbuminuria level was only the upper normal value (30mg/L). This shows that renal interlobar segmental artery Doppler evaluation is as sensitive as the urine microalbuminuria study to detect the diabetic renal involvement, and rarely the Doppler study is seen to have an edge over the urine microalbuminuria assessment.