Insight in Kidney Function and Microstructure Through Multi-Parametric MRI – Review of Latest Literature

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) represents a growing medical, diagnostic and social challenge, and it is estimated to effect 8.5-9.8% of the global population and require expensive modes of treatment, such as haemodialysis or renal transplants. Currently, a diagnosis of CKD is set based on the level of creatinine in the blood, which is the golden standard of renal function diagnostics. Unfortunately, decrease in GFR is secondary to damage of the kidney parenchyma and indicates that the best time to start more aggressive treatment has already passed. Therefore, several non-invasive methods have been proposed for predicting increased risk of CKD progression however in most of the cases kidney biopsy is essential. Currently, the greatest hopes for a method that can confirm CKD are associated with the development of MRI, the most tissue-specific imaging method and it is already proven to be capable to detect inflammatory and oedematous changes, fibrosis, as well as perfusion and oxygenation disturbances. Therefore, in our manuscript we decided to present up-to-date knowledge about kidney MRI from a clinical point of view.