The morphology and haemodynamics of the rabbit renal artery: evaluation by conventional and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the morphology and haemodynamics of the renal artery in the rabbit as evaluated by conventional and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS). The morphology and haemodynamics of the rabbit renal artery, including the diameter, which were measured using B-mode ultrasonography (US), colour Doppler US and CEUS, and systolic velocity, diastolic velocity and resistive index (RI) were measured using pulsed wave Doppler US. CEUS was used to measure the renal artery diameter: 0.21 ± 0.04 cm (right) and 0.21 ± 0.03 cm (left). Values of the main renal artery diameter obtained from CEUS significantly correlated with those of digital subtraction angiography. The blood flow velocity of the right main renal artery was 44.20 ± 8.71/18.92 ± 6.26 cm/s (systolic/diastolic) and 36.30 ± 6.89/17.64 ± 5.58 cm/s (systolic/diastolic), at its origin from the aorta and at the renal hilus, respectively. The blood flow velocity of the left main renal artery was 45.10 ± 8.49/19.00 ± 6.80 cm/s (systolic/diastolic) and 41.70 ± 10.25/19.55 ± 7.90 cm/s (systolic/diastolic), at its origin from the aorta and at the renal hilus, respectively. Conventional US provides a more feasible modality for measuring the morphology and haemodynamics of the rabbit renal artery. CEUS is a more accurate method for measuring diameter. This information on the morphology and haemodynamics of the rabbit renal artery might be helpful for researchers.

The Evaluation of Renal Hemodynamics with Doppler Ultrasonography

“…Pope et al (1996) reported a 95% confidence interval (CI) from 0.43 to 0.63 (0.53 ± 0.05) in another porcine study. Baseline values in studies on rabbits vary between 0.51 ± 0.04 and 0.54 ± 0.11 (Chu et al, 2011;Kaya et al, 2010;). An intrarenal RI range of 0.52 -0.73 have been reported for healthy dogs (Nyland et al, 1993), and of 0.44 -0.71 for healthy cats (Rivers et al, 1996).…”

Haemodynamics imaging of swine segmental kidney artery using duplex Doppler technique

“…Chu et al . (4) presented findings concerning the value of the RI in the rabbit renal artery, discovering no adverse effects following the administration of amobarbital sodium during anaesthesia. In research on rabbits, propofol had minimal effect on haemodynamics, whereas combinations of xylazine-ketamine and thiopental resulted in a significant decrease in RI value (10).…”