Objective: To determine the accuracy with which total and cortical renal volumes may be measured in vivo with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) in an animal model.
Methods: Seven female Yorkshire pigs were scanned in vivo using both a 64-channel multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT) scanner (Siemens Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany) and a C-arm CT scanner (Siemens AXIOM). Kidneys were scanned in corticomedullary and nephrographic phases after contrast injection. Three-dimensional volumetric analysis of CT data was performed to determine renal cortical and overall renal volumes, and renal lengths. We measured renal weights, water displacement volumes, and overall and cortical renal volumes of resected kidneys.
Results: Overall and cortical renal volumes by CT showed excellent correlation (R2 values varying from 0.77 to 0.92) with anatomic measurements of renal volume. There was poor correlation of anatomic renal volumes with renal lengths by CT.
Conclusions: Three-dimensional analysis of contrast-enhanced CT provides accurate measurement of overall and cortical renal volumes in vivo.