MRI Provides Early Alert to PKD Progression

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests of the kidney can accurately track structural changes that might predict loss of kidney function earlier than standard blood and urine tests in people with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (PKD), according to a National Institutes of Health-funded study.

The Consortium for Radiological Imaging Studies of Polycystic Kidney Disease, funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, found that kidneys and small and large cysts grew continuously at steady rates rather than variable ones.

“Being able to predict how quickly a disease will progress—rather than waiting years for it to actually happen—should speed up trials of potential therapies,” according to lead study author Jared J. Grantham, M.D. The study’s findings were published in the May 18, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Visit http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/polycystic/index.htm to read or download a fact sheet about PKD.