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Application of Functional Renal MRI to improve assessment of chronic kidney disease (AFiRM study)
Safe People
University Hospitals of Derby & Burton NHS Fountdation Trust
Safe Projects
ILD71
Most patients with kidney disease are assessed with a basic ultrasound scan. New methods of scanning the kidneys, in particular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), offer significant advantages. Importantly, MRI scans do not use radiation, nor do they need injections of dye sometimes needed for other types of scan. This means that MRI scans are safe and can be repeated to see whether patients are improving in response to treatment or not. MRI can show the kidney in more detail than ultrasound and there are different MRI techniques that can assess different aspects of kidney function. Combining several different MRI techniques into a single scan session is called multiparametric MRI. Multiparametric MRI is not yet used in patient care, so we want to perform a research study to find out if it is useful for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The research study will have three parts. Firstly, we will test multiparametric MRI in a small number of patients to ensure that it is practical and comfortable for them. We will also check the way that we plan to analyse the scans. Secondly, we will use multiparametric MRI to evaluate 450 patients with CKD. We will use the UK Renal Registry data to monitor the patients' longer-term kidney health (over 10 years) without patients needing to return to the hospital. Thirdly we will focus on patients who have had a kidney biopsy We will compare MRI results with kidney biopsies to provide additional, more detailed evidence as to how multiparametric MRI can be used to visualise different disease processes that lead to CKD. Results from this research will show how multiparametric MRI can help in diagnosis and monitoring of patients, with the ultimate goal of improving treatment.