Functional Studies of the Kidney with Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The measurement of renal function by imaging techniques is an important clinical and research tool. Early and reliable detection of changes in renal function are used to evaluate prognosis and the therapeutic approach to patients, and can be used to influence patient management. One intrinsic limitation of laboratory methods of evaluation is that they provide only a global evaluation of renal function with little anatomic information. Radionuclide methods of evaluation offer an advantage to biochemical methods because they can demonstrate side-to-side differences in renal function (1 ). However, radionuclide methods are limited by spatial resolution, as well as the exposure to radioactive contrast agents that accumulate in the bladder and thus disproportionately irradiate the gonads.